Visual Feast

Rating: Null/10 (17 July 1999)

Where were the line-ups? I saw this on opening day and there were maybe 30 people in the theatre. The masses in my city missed a visual feast: beautiful homes; terrific art; gorgeous, screwed-up people; grotesque masks. The much-talked-about sex (we got the tame version) was secondary, and those who went to the movie for that reason left disappointed. Not me. I enjoyed the movie as a whole, but some of the scenes were painful to watch: Kidman weeping(?) while she relayed a dream; her tedious (and irritatingly slow) conversation while dancing with the older Hungarian; Cruise's conversation with a deceased patient's delusional daughter; Cruise's conversation around the pool table with the party host. The storyline was a little over-the-top. Why the strong reaction over his wife's fantasy? Clearly, this is not a movie for the masses. I'd recommend it to serious filmgoers, fellow writers and artists, and\or anyone who can appreciate movies that are beyond the borders of mainstream. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. I'm certain it has something important to say about marital relations, but I haven't figured out what that is yet. Hmmm. Better see it again.