Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut is one of those movies that everyone was talking about at the time, yet no one was really talking about the film itself. Like Angel Heart* and Disclosure** people were more interested in talking about behind the scenes crap and "social issues" than talk about the film itself. I had heard a lot about it but not too much about it's real content. When that happens, I start to think that the film is in fact contentless, like many of Tom Cruise's films (has anyone had the misfortune of seeing cocktail? It's like events are occurring but somehow nothing is happening).

Luckily, I was wrong. I mean, I know I like Stanley Kubrick, but I was afraid that I would be bored to tears, seeing as how so many "erotic thrillers" seem to be boring as sin and surprisingly unerotic. I didn't find this film too erotic, but I found it too be smart and engaging, though a bit frustrating. I don't know why. It's not because there are unanswered questions, because that is in fact the film's strength. It is not the acting (though that's nothing special). I guess it's that the events after the night feel a bit... underwhelming after the night.

See this film is split into two parts: one night and the following day. The night half the starts the film is almost a dreamlike world, a sort of twilight between asleep and awake. It's an odyssey and the main character played by Cruise starts traveling down a strange sexual road. It begins when his wife (stoned to the gills, if that's possible) admits that she almost threw everything for one night of passion with a navy guy (if he were to offer). The film's performances didn't grab me too much except for that one scene, which I thought was very powerful and sort of hypnotic (even Tom looks hypno-zonked). It started out the usual uninteresting "frustrated couple fighting" scene and went somewhere rather interesting. The way she admits that the fact that her wanted to cheat on him made her realize how much she treasured him was an interesting angle.

Anyhoo, before he can react to the bombshell, Dr. Bill Harford (Tom's character) is called to check on a patient who just died. Bill begins his journey, deciding to just sort of walk around, letting things happen to him. He never seems to initiate anything... at first. There are two interesting things about Dr. Harford. One is that he seems to justify anything he does by saying "I'm a doctor". It's a bit of a joke and while Roger Ebert says that he seems to be trying to show he exists with it, I see it as Harford naively thinking that being a doctor acts as some sort of warrant to do what he want. He really treats it like a skeleton key, and it actually works, even when it shouldn't (like at a costume shop)

The other thing is that almost every character reacts to him sexually. My guess is that Harford's character has some invisible sexual aura that he emits and doesn't seem to know about (but has had it long enough that he's used to the reactions he gets). To my recollection, he never actually flat out says no to any woman (or man) who shows interest, even when they're going far with their flirtation. Still, Harford spends the whole movie unlaid.

Anyway, Harford spends the rest of the night sort of walking no where in particular and getting into tiny adventures until a friend tells him about a weird kinky place he plays piano for. He ends up sneaking his way in, and finds a strange sexual underworld. Not evil or anything, just a bit decadent and strange,with a sense of ritual and almost religious significance. Eventually, he's caught, but before he's punished he finds himself spared (from what?) in another strange turn of events.

The second half of the movie is far less dreamlike and is sort of about the harsh light of day, as Harford investigates what happened. It's still good and a logical following thematically and plot wise, but I dunno, I just got the feeling that after the intriguing midpoint show stopper in the mansion, the rest seemed less intriguing. I do like how the events of the previous night has two theories behind it and both seem plausible (is it some crazy cult, or some boys club? Are they murderous or just cowards who are into smoke and mirrors? Are they Illuminati or Skull and Bones), but I feel that I wasn't as drawn in anymore.

Still, a much better movie that I expected after all the hub-bub.

* A good but flawed film
** Which I haven't seen but since it has Demi Moore and Michael Douglas it was probably shit. I'm not commenting on their acting ability, I'm just saying they tend to star in shitty movies. Also, there's something about Douglas that makes me want to keep hitting him and never stop.