From the Master, a Master Stroke

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 1999)

If you haven't figured out by the final frames what "Eyes Wide Shut" really means, then you just didn't get this movie. Ironically, in order to get it, you have to keep your eyes (and your mind) wide open. Mr. Kubrick has given us, for his final work, an onion -- an object to be examined, peeled, re-examined and peeled some more. The layers, reverberations, twists, secrets, ironies and more in this film are just incredible.
Did I mention that my initial reaction, as the closing credits rolled, was to just sit there with a dumb grin on my face thinking, "Wow." The nearly three hour experience crept up, until, in the final moments, everything we'd been watching became absolutely clear and the revelation was spine-tingling. It's also the kind of revelation that says this is a movie to see again, then again. I have a feeling that every viewing will reveal more answers -- and raise more questions.
If you're paying careful attention, you will notice the first time through that the film is spattered with clues and indications of what's really going on. Not to give anything away, but what seemed to be a blatant continuity error late in the film was actually a red flag indicating reality. Trusting his audience, Kubrick doesn't bother to explain. If, as an audience member, you trust Kubrick, you won't need it explained to you.
As others have mentioned, "Eyes Wide Shut" most reminded me of "Barry Lyndon," in look and feel -- but, perhaps as a farewell premonition, Kubrick has planted sly references to his other films throughout. Pay close attention and you'll catch little hints of "2001," "Clockwork Orange" and even "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Shining."
Nicole Kidman is amazing, and deserves at least an Oscar Nomination; Tom Cruise also pulls it off, with Kubrick using the actor's shortcomings in his favor. (This is literally true; Kubrick is/was probably the only director who could get away with showing Cruise at his real height -- i.e., shorter than most other people on screen, including his wife, most of the time.) The cinematography is gorgeous. Once again, there's magic here with light and things just look differently than you've ever seen them on film before. That said, though, the lighting isn't just flash -- pay attention to the changes in shooting style between saturated and flat on your first trip through, they are important.
I have a feeling, once I've seen this film a few times, that it actually might squeak up my list and move "2001" and "Clockwork Orange" down a notch. Then again, when Mr. Kubrick died far before his time last March, every other living director (hell, every other dead one, too) moved up a notch in the hierarchy. There just wasn't anyone better than Stanley, and in his swansong, he proved it again more than ever.