1. ryancarroll88

   10

   "Eyes Wide Shut" is one of those movies that reaffirms the study of film - it's a masterpiece that gets better with every viewing; if you didn't like it the first time, watch it again and you're bound to find something new.… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 4 users said Yes.
2. MrElvey

   8

   Pretty awesome if you examine it closely. But sucks if you just take it at face value. Like Shakespeare in that way.
   
   I just watched it again, and read Introducing Sociology
   A Review of Eyes Wide Shut
   by Tim Kreider It's such a great review of the movie's reviews (and it's free and online, though originally from "Film Quarterly".) I just had to come here and, I see, finally (over 2 years after joining) post my first review in order to mention it - it's such a great read-perhaps better than the movie itself.
   
   It's pretty awesome to see how a thorough analysis makes such a mockery of the run-of-the-mill reviewer's reviews - those from the New York times and Washington Post.
   
   The movie is chock full of masterful iconography. While I missed little of the visual symbology, such as the use of spaciousness, and evil symbology, I didn't pick up on most of the linguistic symbols, from witty names like that of the profligate "Doctor Bill" and ruling class "Victor" to the commercial signage.
   
   The greatest strength of the film is the social criticism angle - like 'Pig Hunt', which I played a tiny part in producing. It lays bare an exquisite panorama of crassness and wretchedness, like pig adorned in diamonds and pearls.
   
   Somehow, the acting was believable and I was drawn into the movie, even as the characters came across as the flattened sterotypes that Kubrick clearly wanted.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
3. J-Shap

   5

   Eyes Wide Shut is an amazing tapestry of ideas. But, alas, as a film, it fails. The problem is not solely due to the awkward performances by Cruise and Kidman, but actually due to Kubrick's own direction. While a master of mis-en-scene, atmosphere, and visuals, Kubrick has always been an emotionally distant director. This is probably due to Kubrick's own personality, but his misanthropic tendencies work in films like Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, and Paths of Glory, due to his understanding of craft and touch for cold feeling that isolates the viewer when it is supposed to. He is emotionally distant in a good way, like a Radiohead song. But while Kubrick's tactics of isolation worked in films with cold feelings and misanthropy, it fails in Eyes Wide Shut. The film is supposed to be about the inner-workings of the human brain, and specifically, the part that can bring out intense emotions. The problem is Kubrick seems so disinterested in his own characters, as well as Cruise and Kidman, that to connect emotionally, which a character study needs, fails. It is a vast pool of ideas, but nothing to string them together.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 2 users said Yes.
4. Summersausage

   4

   Kubrick finally went to the place that he has always bordered on. A pit of nonsense due too a plot that doesn't begin or end and nudity to a point where I just thought, Okay it is not possible to have that much naked in one room. Creepy and cool build up to a wreck of a inapplicable ending.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.

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