Life goes on. Until it doesn`t.

Rating: 10/10 (10 October 1999)

'Baby did a bad, bad thing.'
Cloaked in the usual Kubrick cloth  long mooding shots, lush set pieces, scintillating camera work and, yes, many naked woman  the old master gives us the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman Show. Unplugged.
Cruise is great as the disillusioned husband and father, Dr. Bill Hartford (even the name is great), who one innocent, pot-smoking evening learns of his wife`s fantasies of another man. His safe, little world of living the 'good life' in the upper class (Central Park West apartment and all) is completely zapped and undermined. He wanders helplessly through and about the streets of New York, from one yellow taxi cab to another, from one confrontation to another, and gets himself entangled into an underworld of sex and murder. Or does he?
Opposite Cruise and at the core of the story is Kidman in a fascinating performance. She will make you cringe with wonder in your seat, uneasy at the power and realism she purveys. The two (married in real life)  especially in the shots they share  deliver some of the best screen time this side of Casablanca. We`ve seen Tom Cruise like this before, but he`s never had this edge or this fire in both speech and eyes. Kubrick really took him that step further and the natural chemistry between the real time couple can actually at times seem offensive, as you may feel like you are invading actual home life and privacy.
Sydney Pollack can be seen in a (typical Kubrick) perfectly cast supporting role, and the dark, neon-lit streets, alleys and buildings of New York (filmed mostly on location) makes for a great backdrop to the story.

Images will float and visions will blunder, this plot of men and women, sex and love, life and meaning, reality and fantasy, is the kind of cinema we never knew we missed before we got it.
This is the good stuff. Movie making at it´s finest. Relevant and hypnotic, Eyes Wide Shut will be churning in your mind long after you leave the cinema. Food for thought. Delicately, yet honestly served. Bon appetit.
A masterpiece.
ps : Love that ending (and quote).