By Robert Sims, Special to Hollywood.com
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Thursday, August 14, 2008
9. Eyes Wide Shut (2 stars)
Year of Release: 1999
U.S. Box Office Gross: $55.6 million
Reported Budget: $65 million
The Reassessment: Today, as it did in 1999, Stanley Kubrick’s final film feels like the ramblings of a recluse happily out of touch with the world. The Lolita director would have made a timely and important statement about white middle-class America’s response to the Sexual Revolution had this been released in the 1960s. Despite its ominous tone, strange goings on and shadowy characters, this is one long tease that ultimately equates extramarital sex with death (though Kubrick barely acknowledges the existence of AIDS). Yes, Kubrick draws you into the odd sexual shenanigans that Tom Cruise’s doctor observes. But whenever Cruise comes close to participating to punish his unfaithful wife (Nicole Kidman, then Mrs. Cruise), he runs home. For a director unafraid to break taboos, Kubrick sadly went out with a whimper.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.