Genre: Thriller / Drama
Length: 2h 32m 33s
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Tagline: Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick.
Plot outline: A doctor (Tom Cruise) becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter after his wife (Nicole Kidman) admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met and chastising him for dishonesty in not admitting to his own fantasies. This sets him off into unfulfilled encounters with a dead patient's daughter and a hooker. But when he visits a nightclub, where a pianist friend Nick Nightingale (Todd Field) is playing, he learns about a secret sexual group and decides to attend one of their congregations. However, he quickly learns he is in well over his head and finds he and his family are threatened. Summary written by John Sacksteder {jsackste@bellsouth.net} Sexual jolts disrupt Manhattan physician Bill Harford's equilibrium. At an elegant Christmas party, two "models" hit on him, he watches a Lothario try to pick up his tipsy wife, he aids a woman sprawled naked in a bathroom after an overdose. The next night, his wife reveals sexual fantasies with a stranger; a dead patient's daughter throws herself at him; as he walks, brooding, six teen boys hurl homophobic insults at him; a streetwalker takes him to her flat; he interrupts men having a sex party with a girl barely in her teens. His odyssey, which next takes him into a world of wealthy sex play at a masked ball of hedonism, threatens his life, his self-respect, and his marriage. Summary written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}
Comment: Stanley crafted a remarkable picture. Surely, it contains some of the most textured, psychologically tortured characters that he's ever attempted to portray on screen. The lead performances by Kidman and Cruise are distancing with their aloofness yet heartbreaking with the complex serving of emotions that flood the screen. Kidman will likely receive an Oscar nomination for playing a woman whose sexual fantasies are what propel the movie's winding journey (though voters may be confused whether to put her in the lead or supporting categories; lead gets my vote). At times, she seems on the verge of an emotional collapse; at others, we can understand how her husband (Cruise) would become jealous and suspicious of her. It's a very courageous performance, as she's required to be naked in more ways than the obvious. Cruise has already been criticized for giving a wooden, shallow performance, and I think those words are unfair. This is one of the highlights of his career: He starts off as the Tom Cruise we all know -- brash, charming, etc. -- but slowly begins to reveal the cracks in his armor until we're left with a man on the edge. Cruise is in nearly all of the movie's 160 minutes, and I don't think he falters once. Is it a fiery, intense performance like his work in BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY? No. Here, a director uses Cruise's limited range for a purpose; the result is very similar to when Kubrick cast the bland but handsome Ryan O'Neal in BARRY LYNDON (a movie that EWS resembles in more ways than one). In both cases, Kubrick cast a pretty boy to reveal the clod underneath the surface. The production overall is vintage Kubrick: perfectly composed frames, long takes and a focused use of color (red, gold and black seem to be the prominent colors in EWS). The NY hotels and apartment buildings are very reminiscent of the Overlook in THE SHINING; Kubrick creates a shimmering backdrop to a sordid human tale. Fans of the director also will notice his frequent touches of dark, ironic humor. Overall, this picture resembles BARRY LYNDON and LOLITA more than any other in the Kubrick canon. In other words, fans of 2001, CLOCKWORK ORANGE, FULL METAL JACKET or THE SHINING will be waiting, unfortunately (for them), for Kubrick to throw in action or special effects. He doesn't; this movie is about two very unhappy individuals struggling with feelings of inadequacy, guilt and obsession. They are two people who really don't trust or know each other. In the final scene, Kubrick implies that they might have the ability to find peace, yet he caps the moment with a dark, 'Kubrickian' touch that will have film buffs debating his true intent well into the next millennium. Few other films this year -- or any year, for that matter -- will accomplish that. EWS is a long sit, but never boring. In fact, I was enraptured the entire time and never wanted it to end. I'll be surprised -- even with new movies still to come from David Lynch, Oliver Stone and Atom Egoyan -- if I see a better picture this year.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
Country: USA
Language:
Subtitels: No ()
DVDs: 2
IMDB address
| Actors: | ||
| Tom Cruise | as | Dr. William 'Bill' Harford |
| Nicole Kidman | as | Alice Harford |
| Madison Eginton | as | Helena Harford |
| Jackie Sawiris | as | Roz |