An Ambitious Failure

Rating: 6/10 (17 July 1999)

It is unfortunate that Stanley Kubrick, one of the few contemporary cinematic masters, failed to leave us with a work properly deserving of its position as his ultimate artistic statement. If Kubrick had not died four days after completing 'Eyes Wide Shut', this eagerly awaited addition to his remarkable roster of films would have suffered the fate of Martin Scorcese's 'After Hours'- to be first defended, then dismissed as an unsuccessful experiment by a director of genius. The film begins well, immediately seducing the viewer with its visual beauty and leisurely pace. Aided by an appealingly edgy soundtrack, it soon proceeds to constrict itself into a tense knot of psycho-sexual suspense. Whereupon it suddenly loses its way. And stays lost. For a very long time. Following a path from provocative to disturbing to annoying to ludicrous, and finally, to tedious, the film then doggedly stumps on for another 3/4 hour. While impossible to recommend not seeing it, 'Eyes Wide Shut' leaves little recourse, other than to suggest following its screening with a trip to the video store to check out 'Barry Lyndon', 'Lolita' or 'The Shining'. To make mention of 'Dr. Strangelove', 'Paths of Glory', 'Clockwork Orange' or '2001,' would just be mean-spirited.