Side Effects
Tags: psychological, neo noir, murder, suicidal, plot twist, flashback, revenge

Plot synopsis:
The opening shot shows blood stains. We don't know what has happened, or where, or to whom.Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara)'s husband Martin (Channing Tatum) is serving a four-year prison sentence for insider trading. She visits him in prison, passing through the desk guard (Carmen Peláez). As he is about to be released, Emily thanks her boss (Polly Draper) for her support. She receives her husband with joy, together with Martin's mother (Ann Dowd). That night, at their middle-class house, they make love, although she doesn't seem really focused or attached to it. Martin mentions a certain Marshall Hellman he knew while doing time who used to work as some sort of banker and may give him some marvelous job in Dubai. Marshall was in for some tax fraud, but will be out soon. Martin promises to make Emily affluent as well. Emily answers "OK, babe," but once again, she doesn't look happy, or interested, or having any kind of emotional response.Emily goes to the parking lot for her car. Her face looks blank, as usual. Her handbag falls down for no apparent reason, and a garage attendant (Haraldo Álvarez) helps her out. Shortly afterwards, she buckles up and drives her car into a concrete wall in an apparent suicide attempt. She seems to have let herself go.Meanwhile at a local hospital, Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) is trying to calm down a police officer (James Martínez) who's manhandling a patient in a rough way. The patient, Augustin (Vladimi Versailles), only speaks French, and calms down when Banks speaks to him in the same language. The problem happened to be that Augustin had seen his late father driving a cab. Jonathan tells the cop that for Haitians it's a normal assumed thing to see dead relatives after they are dead, in their process of feeling grief and gettng over it. The Desk Nurse (Jacqueline Antaramian), tells Banks to tend to Emily Taylor, with a minor head trauma. Banks is her assigned psychiatrist. Emily looks unfocused when she's questioned by Banks. The insurance company is going to be on her, as there was not even an attempt to halt to a stop and the brakes look alright. Banks gives some instructions to Martin and his mother. Banks puts her on an anti-depressant medication. He fears for her safety but agrees to her release from the hospital as long as she attends sessions with him on a regular basis, on Martin's charge.Emily goes back to work. Her co-worker Joan (Michelle Vergara Moore) sees her running to the lavatory and asks her whether she's OK. Emily drinks some water from the tab and looks at her horrible appearance. Her boss notices her throwing up and says that the pills she's taking used to throw her up as well, and mentions another medication, Celexa, which worked better for her.Emily tries a series of SSRI anti-depressant medications, but none of them work. Emily tells Jonathan that she wanted to be into graphic design, that's what she moved to New York. While working on a pub to pay for her school fees, she met Martin and fell in love.Jonathan contacts Emily's previous psychiatrist in Connecticut, Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who suggests that Jonathan put Emily on a new drug called Ablixa. Victoria says that Emily felt invisible towards her father, and that she felt abandoned again when Martin went to jail, so it's better that she's seeing a male psychologist this time. Victoria says that new drugs have a kind of placebo effect in some patients, so she's trying the new med in another one of her patients. Victoria also mentions a miscarriage which Emily hadn't mentioned to Jonathan, who is reluctant to put Emily on the experimental drug.Jonathan and Victoria speak before a conference Victoria is about to hear. Meanwhile, Emily and Martin go to a music concert. Carl (David Costabile) has given them the tickets, and Martin thinks that this is because he was the one who went to the federals, and Carl now feels rotten about it. She tells Emily not to mention the Hellman possibility to Carl and his partner Kayla (Mamie Gummer). They dress up to the nines. Emily goes to pick the drinks from the bartender (Steven Platt). Emily looks at herself in a distorted mirror and feels that she can't go on. Kayla mentions she is also on medication. Kayla goes to fetch Martin, but Emily has to leave the room. Martin hugs her on the terraced balcony and takes her away.We can see the happy face of a model (Onika Day) advertising Ablixa. Emily is on the underground. She looks towards a cop and prepares herself to jump, but the cop, Beahan (Victor Cruz), prevents her from jumping. Later, Jonathan is recommending his wife, Dierdre (Vinessa Shaw) a beta-depressant so she won't feel nervous when she attends the job interview in direct competition with two other highly-qualified candidates. Emily appears and interrupts Jonathan and Deirdre's conversation.As she has attempted suicide a second time by trying to jump onto a subway track, Jonathan puts her on the Ablixa medication. The medication works, enabling Emily to function normally besides occasional sleepwalking episodes, a side effect of the drug. Later, Banks and his two partners, (Laila Robins and Peter Friedman) are having lunch with a drug representative (Andrea Bogart), who's praising a new medicine (Delatrex) and needs Banks to put it into the system. That night, Ezra (Mitchell Michaliszyn), Jonathan and Deirdre's son interrupts their private sexual moment.Emily is happy again, walking down the street with Martin, laughing, having passionate sex with him. Martin notices the change in Emily and comments that, whoever invented that pill, is going to become rich. However, one night, Emily gets up in the middle of the night, prepares lunch and sets the music volume high, but she is sleepwalking. Martin wants to stop the medication, but Emily doesn't want to change it. Martin goes to visit Hellman in prison and plans to open an office in Houston. Another patient of Banks (Elizabeth Rich) agrees to start the medication because she doesn't need to pay a cent for it. Emily arrives late to work and cannot explain why she's late. Her boss tells her to go home for the day, but that it can't happen again. Back home, Emily takes a pill and is able to smile.Jonathan consoles Dierdre, who has lost the job to a guy from Citicorp. Martin comes home after talking to Hellman, and it looks like the business will succeed. Emily is preparing a glorious romantic dinner, but without even opening her mouth, she stabs Martin to death while seemingly sleepwalking. The next day, NYPD Detective (Scott Shepherd) questions her, and she says that she went to sleep and then woke up to see him dead. Jonathan has to go to the police station, as Emily won't stop saying his name. Emily was setting the table for three, but Jonathan wasn't expected there. Jonathan brings out the sleepwalking side effect, but the detective and the assistant District Attorney (Michael Nathanson) look at each other in disbelief. The District Attorney tells him that somebody will be punished, Emily or Jonathan: either Emily is a murderer, or Jonathan mistreated her.Emily is brought to trial by Klein (Timothy Klein), and Jonathan fights for her acquittal. He is criticized publicly for fumbling Emily's case. Emily is pushed to take some sleep pills by the prison's doctor, but she says that she doesn't want to see another pill in her life again. Victoria tells Jonathan that he couldn't have done anything else. Emily's lawyer (Sheila Tapia) produces cases in which the accused was acquitted because of the sleepwalking idea. Banks is in dire straits, and he admits to that. Martin's mother is paying the lawyer. Banks can't sleep now because of Emily's case. Emily writes a letter and Martin's mother reads it in a TV program. The TV anchor (Josh Elliott) tries to understand why she is helping her daughter-in-law. Nobody from the Ablixa factory wants to comment, but Dr. Peter Joubert (Sasha Bardey) says there are reasons for the compulsory inclusion of a black box in the anti-depressant box. Reporters (Ashley Morrison and Steve Lacy) pester the three Banks household members. Banks' patients (Ken Marks & Devin Ratray) start acting weird because of the case. Banks' colleagues assume he has been negligent due to his heavy work-load. Jeffrey Childs (Russell G. Jones) interrogates Jonathan Banks. Jonathan claims that because his wife lost his job, and all the bills he had to pay pushed him to do multiple shifts. Emily eventually agrees to plead insanity; she is declared not guilty on the condition that she stay in a mental institution until cleared by a psychiatrist.Due to the case's bad publicity, Jonathan's career is left in ruins, although he tries to reassure Dierdre. One of the partners brings up the case of Alison Finn, while Jonathan was doing his residency, a girl who stalked him and named him in her suicide note. He says that the oral sex idea with Alison was a fantasy, not real. However, he sets out to clear his name and uncovers evidence that not only did Emily fake her suicide attempts, but was involved in a criminal conspiracy with Victoria, all that with an internet search. Sleepwalking was a side effect of the medicine but Victoria didn't warn Jonathan, and he didn't check.After his conversation with Victoria, Jonathan speaks with the parking attendant at the beginning, who noticed that Emily was wearing her seatbelt. Emily's boss understood Emily's feeling because she felt the same during a hard time in her life, and mentions William Syron's  Darkness Visible book. The boss mentions a "poisonous fog" taken from the book, which reminds Jonathan of something which Emily said. Jonathan looks for a Julia which used to work alongside Emily, but there is only a Susan (Susan Gross). Dierdre has to go out and pick up Ezra from school because Jonathan forgot. Dierdre is fed-up.Jonathan interviews Emily at the mental hospital. She looks better. Emily tells Jonathan that Julia was somebody she used to work with at the bar, but from whom she hadn't heard from the day of the killing. Jonathan tells Dierdre his suspicions of a conspiracy to make rival companies go up in the stock market. Dierdre tells him to quit the case. After being administered what Jonathan claims is a truth serum. Emily behaves as if she's groggy from the drug, mentioning Madeleine, the miscarriage she had, which unbeknownst to her is actually a placebo: saltwater. This confirms Jonathan's suspicions, but the District Attorney cannot do anything about it.When Jonathan confronts Victoria with his findings, and the fact that Victoria visited Emily at the mental hospital. She emails photographs to Jonathan's wife implying he had an affair with Emily; Jonathan's wife and stepson leave him. Jonathan manages to turn Emily and Victoria against each other by using legal means to prevent contact between them and making each believe that her partner had sold her out to Jonathan for a better deal.One day, Emily wants to phone her lawyer, but another patient is on the phone (Nicole Ansari-Cox), mumbling and taking forever to finish. Emily insists to the Wards Island desk nurse (LaChanze), who tells her that Dr. Banks has forbidden her to use the phone anyway. An orderly (Craig muMs Grant) takes Emily away by sheer force. Another nurse (Alice Niedermair-Ludwig) injects something in her arm to calm her down.Emily reveals the workings of the plot to Jonathan: she enjoyed the rich life and hated Martin for causing her to lose it. She specifically went to Victoria for counseling as she, too, had been abandoned by her husband, and the two began a romantic and sexual relationship. They taught each other about the workings of the financial world and faking psychiatric disorders. They then went to elaborate means to fake the side effects of Ablixa in order to manipulate the stock prices of the drug's manufacturer and its competitor, allowing the duo to become rich in the process.Jonathan asks the judge to release Emily, while Victoria is present. Victoria has returned back to her office and her previous work. Emily appears at Victoria's practice and they kiss each other passionately. Emily is wired and the police take Victoria away.In the next scene, Emily makes her obligatory visit to Dr. Banks, who proceeds to prescribe her more drugs against her wishes. As she storms out of his office, she sees her lawyer with Martin's mother, who slaps her because she's learned that her son's murder was intentional. Emily leaves the building and the police officers (Dennis Rees & Aaron Roman Weiner) chase her down and take her into custody and send her back to the mental ward.In the final scene, Jonathan has regained his normal life with his wife and son, and they get together after Ezra's school. Meanwhile, Emily sits in the ward, staring blankly out the window. A psychiatric nurse asks Emily how she's feeling, and she responds by saying apathetically: "Better. Much better."Outside her hospital room, life goes on, with all the noise of the traffic jam and the never-stopping life.

Review: There is only one story to follow.It starts off with some strange camera angles (Steven Soderbergh serving as his own director of photography as he has for the majority of his films) but then settles down as a thriller, or what will become a thriller once we get to know the characters better.
He's the focus of this character-centric, film noir thriller which uses Mara's Emily as the vehicle for the plot.A crime is committed.
Being Fooled is Part of the Fun. I read an article that said that, with Side Effects, Steven Soderbergh wanted to return to the old suspense classics like Jagged Edge and much of Hitchcock, psychological twisters that aren't made much anymore.I suspect that's because today people expect vampires, car chases or buckets of blood to justify the price of a ticket.
This is in a conventional story-telling style but the details are so finely tuned it's a pleasure, and a suspense, all through.I'm not sure who gets more credit, Jude Law in his role as Dr. Banks, a truly well-meaning psychiatrist or Rooney Mara as Emily, the patient (in various stages, and not always so well-meaning).
Burns gleefully twists and turns its way into unexpected plot developments, allowing Soderbergh to roam the apartments and streets with his camera, creating an intense yet unusually hypnotic atmosphere that is irresistibly gorgeous to watch.Jude Law, looking more haggard here, is suitably desperate and obsessive as the "good?" doctor who seeks the truth pervasively after a horrific act committed by his patient, Emily (Rooney Mara).
Channing Tatum too, as her husband Martin, an ex-convict fresh out of prison for insider trading, portrays his character outside of the stereotype, and turns him into a somewhat sympathetic and unfortunate character.Soderbergh's complete control of atmosphere would not be complete without his usual great cinematography, crisp editing and unnerving music score by Thomas Newman, who conjures up some interesting musical themes at the proper times to rattle the characters even further.
This is unfortunate for Channing Tatum, who does a fine job as her loving and sympathetic husband trying to make everything right after being released for insider trading, but who doesn't have close to enough material to compete with Mara.Jude Law, on the other hand, is arguably the most central figure as Dr. Jonathan Banks, Emily's psychiatrist who is thrown into a scandal when his patient is involved in a tragic accident after taking an antidepressant he prescribed for her.
The same can be said for Catherine Zeta- Jones, who—as Emily's former psychiatrist Dr. Victoria Siebert—gives possibly the most complex performance, and does it brilliantly despite her lack of screen time.To give away any more would be to say too much, as the film is so perfectly structured, it is difficult to discuss without giving away the whole thing.
It almost seems as if he does not care about whether or not audiences are moved or entertained, but rather is just doing his job, moving from one project to the next.At the beginning of the year it was announced that Soderbergh was retiring as a director and that SIDE EFFECTS would be his last theatrical film release.
It's become absolutely horrible the way the people with the money decide they can fart in the kitchen, to put it bluntly."Rooney Mara plays Emily, a woman who seems to be suffering from some sort of mental disorder after her husband, Martin, played by Channing Tatum, returns home from prison.
After a failed suicide attempt Emily is introduced to Dr. Jonathan Banks, played by Jude Law, a psychiatrist who tries to help her by prescribing her an anti-depressant.
I do not know if Soderbergh was just following the screenplay or if he was told to give it a happy ending that over-explains everything, leaving no sense of mystery and easily spotted plot-holes.Of course, even with the out-of-place, poorly written surprise conclusion, Side Effects is still better than the majority of thrillers being produced today.
Side Effects is the story of a Psychologist working with a depressed woman and managing her depression with drug after drug until they come across a new medication that has her do something within the film that puts both her life and the life of the Dr in the publics eye and possible Jail time.
Then Jonathan after consult to Victoria Siebert, Emily's previous psychiatrist, prescribe new medication called Ablixa which have a side effect such as sleepwalking.Once again, Steven Soderbergh shows his ability to create unusual and clever film.
Whether or not you like Steven Soderbergh's latest psychological thriller "Side Effects" largely depends on whether or not you think the subject matter its story revolves around is interesting enough for your taste.
The movie begins with a focus on Emily Taylor (played by a very impressing Rooney Mara), who is suffering depression since her husband (Martin Taylor aka Channing Tatum) has gone to prison.
'SIDE EFFECTS': Four Stars (Out of Five) Supposedly Steven Soderbergh's last theatrical film before he retires from directing (although he still has a TV movie, 'BEHIND THE CANDELABRA', coming).
The film stars Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The film starts out slow but once it hooks you it's a very involving and effective psychological thriller.Mara stars as Emily Taylor, a young woman who's reunited with her husband, Martin (Tatum), as he's released from prison.
When he investigates the killing further though he finds out things aren't as they first seemed.The movie could have been played out like a trashy/exploitative femme fatale horror flick but Soderbergh gives the material so much taste and style that it really works as a 'thinking man's thriller'.
After all, going back to "Vertigo" and the popular comparison of "Side Effects" to Hitchcock, the ending of the 1958 film boasted a secret that was also preposterous and convoluted, yet both movies are so absorbingly told that we swallow up every little point and detail thrown our way.Steven Soderbergh has probably never made a perfect movie (he's made some near-perfect ones, like "Contagion") because he's constantly taking chances.
A recent cinema-going of SIDE EFFECTS, hyped as Soderbergh's last theatrical release picture (what's the hell with the BEHIND THE CANDELABRA's Cannes screening?), it unites 3 Soderbergh's regulars with a fresh new leading lady Rooney Mara, grapples with a suspicious somnambulistic murder case under the side effects of prescribed drug influence.Opening with a PSYCHO-tribute craning-and-tracking shot outside a residential building, patiently zooms in on one of the monotonous windows and reveals the blood stain left on the carpet (without notifying neither the perpetrator nor the victim), then jumps back to a 3- months-earlier flashback, Soderbergh certainly has his artistry in his stylish camera-work, and equally superb in dragging his audiences into the hazy mind state of Mara's character, and keeps it captivating and seething with uncertainty and angst, blurs the boundary between truth and lies, steers its sharp point bluntly towards the pharmaceutical industry.
Side Effects is one of those films where once you see the trailer and advertisements for it on television, you think it is going to be a certain way, but for me it actually turned out to be a lot different than I thought it would be.
I can probably go on indefinitely coming up with a variety of positive acclaims for this marvelous thriller from director Stephen Soderbergh; it's a welcome surprise for me in an era where I've given up hope of seeing a really good movie anymore.
This is a very interesting series of events, punctuated with sensational performances from every single member of its cast of complex characters: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
And I know a lot of people hate Channing Tatum and don't think he's an actor, but I think he's good for the screen time he's given.Soderbergh stated in an interview that "Side Effects" will be his last theatrical film.
OK so poke microscope into the world of pharmaceutical companies and the way drugs are prescribed makes for great subject matter with all the issues attached, but the film neither deals with the issues or entertains.......I have read since that there is a twist at the end, tbh I don't care how it ends, probably one of the lamest movies I have seen..
This film is not recommended.Director Steven Sodenbergh's supposedly last film as he embarks on other creative choices, Side Effects is a semi-engrossing psychological thriller that holds the moviegoer's attention with most of its convoluted plot twists until it loses its way about the midway point.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it leaves one hoping that this isn't his final film.Rooney Mara plays Emily Taylor, whose husband (Channing Tatum) has just been released from prison after four years for SEC fraud.
After attempting to take her own life, she enters the care of psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), who attempts to fit her with the right drug, but the side effects end up having a disastrous effect on her."Side Effects" begins almost as a horror film with how freaky Emily's behavior gets and the strange things she does while taking these drugs, but as the questions come flooding in, it mutates into a full-fledged mystery.
Not much more should be said, but fans of traditional thrillers and mystery films will likely not be disappointed.Much of the expert pacing that made "Contagion" a strong film works even better in "Side Effects." Soderbergh is so good at adding the slightest touches to enhance the tension and the tone of a scene that he brings out the best in Burns' script, which has plenty to chew on and doesn't lack for surprises.
Given the nature of the genre, you know that something's not quite right, but the script is so smartly designed that even when there's a big reveal, part of the truth is still concealed, usually in that the characters are a step ahead of the audience.Most of Soderbergh's recent films have gone overboard on big-name casting, but "Side Effects" only uses a few of the stars that have worked with him before: Tatum, Law and Catherine Zeta- Jones, who plays Emily's former psychiatrist.
Banks develops throughout the film in a way few movie characters ever do, period.But strong characters and performances are just a bonus, as the success of "Side Effects" comes primarily from the thickness of the plot and the mystery, which at the onset appears so open- ended that not even a supernatural explanation can be ruled out.
He's definitely capable of making greater movies than "Side Effects," but when a real professional takes on something simple, great things can happen."Side Effects" doesn't change that game as far as multi-layered thrillers, but credit to Burns for spawning such a complex story out of the simple concept of the inherent risk presented by today's medications.~Steven CThanks for reading!
Side effects." Side Effects is a psychological thriller turned mystery film which follows a patient and her psychiatrist as she struggles to overcome her depression and the side effects that come along with it.Soderbergh borrows many devices, camera angles, and plot points from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
Jude Law (Jonathan Banks) fits well into his role, he is able to draw sympathy from the audience and compliments the film as the consistent presence that allows Mara's performance to stand out.
Side Effects (2013) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) begins seeing Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara), a depressed woman trying to cope with her husband (Channing Tatum) being released from prison after a four year stint.
A good psychological thriller that should be watched for terrific directing.Steven Soderbergh has yet again proved that he is indeed a straight forward director and shows the issues as they exist.
She's unsatisfied with everything, so she decides consulting a psychiatrist, portrayed by Jude Law, who tries to fix her problems with different medications - and the ball starts rolling.The portrayal of Emily by Ms. Mara is absolutely authentic because she's playing both sides of her bilateral character - the sick and the calculated one - very well.
Catherine Zeta-Jones is a nice addition to the cast as Emily's old psychiatrist, Dr. Siebert.Overall, Side Effects is an excellent, character-based thriller which basically answers the question on how deadly side effects from drugs can be.
Jude Law, Rooney Mara and Catherine Zeta Jones give great performances.
"Side Effects" is a very Hitchcock like movie with lots of plot twists with very little foreshadowing.
The director has good ideas, but he has a very identifiable and personal way of telling the story that is kind of interesting, but, somehow, he manages in this film to take away the thrill from a thriller..
The director has good ideas, but he has a very identifiable and personal way of telling the story that is kind of interesting, but, somehow, he manages in this film to take away the thrill from a thriller..
Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara of Dragon Tattoo fame) opens the film waiting for her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) to be released from prison.
Enter Jude Law as the calm-mannered psychologist Jonathan, who prescribes Emily drugs to help her with depression, using new drugs on the market, which have, as the title suggests, some sort of apparent side effects to them.....To delve any more into the plot would ruin it, let's just say the story takes massive swerves and the ending of the film resembles nothing of the initial plot which I've described above.
Soderbergh is sly in his pacing and how he unfolds the story, and as questions inevitably turn to her psychiatrist (Jude Law) and precisely what happened after she takes the pills, the film reminds one of a very solid Hitchcock film.
Side effects is a thriller suspense drama movie directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Burns (who previously collaborated on "The Informant!," and "Contagion") offer a cuttingly satirical glimpse at an over medicated world in which doctors serve as paid mouthpieces for pharmaceutical companies and everyone has a recommendation for some pill or another that will presumably smooth over pesky traces of everyday existence." (Side Effects Movie Review & Film Summary).It is important to remember that Soderbergh touched an important fact that faces a lot of people around the world.
Catherine Zeta-Jones also gives a good performance in a smaller role and Channing Tatum (even though front and centre on the poster) is essentially a cameo.The story follows Emily (Mara) who is struggling to readjust to life after her husbands recent release from prison.
The movie deals with Emily (Rooney Mara) and her relatively new FDA approved depression medicine, prescribed by Dr Banks (Jude Law) and the perilous effects that it might have on our body even in the face of all the perceived good that it might do.Talking more about the move gives away the suspense and the review become a spoiler and thus I will conclude with this-the movie is certainly enjoyable, gives away its climax too early, is not at the technical or cinematograpnical level of "Traffic" or "Oceans 11", but has twists, great performances from Mara and Law and is a red flag to our selves during an age of pill-gulping..
The usual, fine performance by Jude Law but Catherine Zeta-Jones' character surprisingly took the story towards her side in the 2nd half of the movie.
It's not that the second half is bad per se - the movie is compulsively watchable from first minute to last - but one feels cheated by the loss of so much potential and promise.Rooney Mara plays a young woman whose husband (Channing Tatum) has just been released from prison for insider trading.
Performances are, however, good (Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones, above all), but when the credits appeared, I just felt ambivalent.
Rooney Mara's character requires a near-comatose performance, but why did Soderbergh allow Jude Law and the delectable Catherine Zeta-Jones to sleepwalk through their parts?
Jude Law and Rooney Mara were mesmerizing and carried the film through to the end.
Really good film and a great story line to follow leaving the viewer intrigued to the mysteries of each side effect.
Too many twists, some just for twists' sake.Ending feels contrived and a tad too neat.However, still an interesting movie.Good performance from Jude Law and Rooney Mara in the main roles.
Her psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) prescribes an experimental new medication called Ablixa.Steven Soderbergh directs this rather mysterious movie somewhat about the drug industry.
So the movie turns from thriller to mystery, becoming an "I want my life back!" story with Law playing detective.
Jude Law is Dr. Jonathan Banks who finds himself in an extremely difficult situation, both in professional and personal level, when a patient of his, Emily Taylor played by a wonderful Rooney Mara, is accused of killing her husband during an episode of parasomnia, caused by a new anti-depressant drug which the Doctor had himself prescribed.
Rooney Mara is suffering from depression and following an attempted suicide her psychiatrist (Law) prescribed a new miracle drug which has extreme side effects that will change both her and her psychiatrist's lives.Interesting notion which for half the film is largely a straightforward drama about prescription drugs and their potential to harm but this is just a catalyst for a second half very Hitchcockian thriller.
My assumption proved correct.Since this is a mystery/thriller, I cannot discuss much for fear of giving away the plot, but I can say that there are enough twists in the movie to keep you guessing, that the actors all give good performances although Catherine Zeta-Jones may be slightly miscast, and the film is well shot.
As always Soderbergh turns to Channing Tatum (as he has in the recent past) and renews his ties with Jude Law and Catherine Zeta Jones whilst building new bridges with Rooney Mara (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON Tattoo).
TITLE: SIDE EFFECTS DIRECTED BY: STEVEN SODERBERGH STARRING: JUDE LAW, CATHERINE ZETA JONES, ROONEY MARA & CHANNING TATUM RATED: R RATING: 07/10 RUNTIME: 106 MINUTES.
Side Effects is (probably) Steven Soderbergh's final film as a director.