Sexual film noir

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 2003)

The only adequate description I can think of for "Eyes Wide Shut" is that it's a sexual film noir, an erotic mystery wrapped in an X-rated enigma. Tom Cruise is the befuddled detective, fumbling his way through the darkness searching for the light, and Nicole Kidman is the femme fatale whose sexuality holds the key to all. Or does it?
I never expected Stanley Kubrick to release a mainstream movie that contained graphic sex on the order of "Basic Instinct," though I would like to see the European version (minus the fake-looking digital forms). This is another intellectual film from the maker of "2001," and it's fascinating and in many ways appalling. It also has a seriously twisted sense of humor ... notice the way a ringing telephone almost always prevents Cruise from going over the edge into infidelity.
Martin Scorsese has said that the whole movie is a dream, that not a moment takes place w/in "reality." An interesting point of view. But who's dreaming? Both Cruise and Kidman, I say, with Kubrick weaving the two dreams together, and with Kidman emerging as the dominant partner at the end. (She has one of the best closing lines in all of movies, right up there with "Forget it, Jake ...")
Critics who say Tom Cruise is terrible here are way off base. Dr. Harford has gone into himself; his passions exist with his own imagination -- he is literally walking with his eyes wide shut, obsessing over the mental picture of Kidman having sex with another man, and he's terrific. Kidman, meanwhile, deserved the supporting actress Oscar for her performance here. The scene where she destroys Cruise with her sex fantasy is just outstanding. Rade Serbedgia is memorably creepy as the late-night costume salesman, and Sidney Pollack excels as the scary rich guy who may (or may not) be manipulating things behind the scenes. Every performance, really, is a gem.
"Eyes Wide Shut" is not a plot-driven movie; it's a story, and a character study. Some find it boring because a car doesn't explode every 5 seconds. They can watch "2 Fast 2 Furious." This was the final work of a master filmmaker, and it's as great as it is weird.
(Footnote: watch this as a double feature with "American Beauty.")