Stanley Kubrick's final film is a mesmerizing look at depravity and sexuality that compromises very little to fulfill the much matured and very grim view of the world that Kubrick had. Whether it is a great film or pretentious garbage is something that will only be determined by time; right now it must simply be looked at piece by piece.
Tom Cruise plays Dr. Bill Harford, a Joe Schmoe living in the lower upper-class with his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), and daughter in their New York apartment. After a sexually charged dinner party at a very wealthy friend's estate, a fight ensues and Bill learns that at one point Alice almost cheated on him. It rocks his world and, after making a house-call to a patient, he hits the streets wandering aimlessly. The night, he finds, has nooks and crannies filled with shadows of carnal indulgence which opens his eyes to the underbelly of his otherwise clean and sterile world.
Almost in a dream he meets strange character after strange character. The film is more like a series of small stories interwoven together, each pushing Bill to some unknown destination. He floats in and out of them taking an active role in each encounter, but never really taking too much away from them. And he shouldn't, he is not that type of person. In each scenario he comes closer and closer to physical consummation, but throughout most of the story it seems that The Kiss holds the power, and is as dirty as he will allow his hands to become.
The final destination is something entirely unexpected after viewing the first half an hour of the film--hell even the first hour. Kubrick pushes the bounds of what an audience will tolerate as high art and what is just plain ridiculous. I am not sure whether or not he succeeded. It was hypnotizing and uncomfortable to watch, and when I asked myself whether or not what I was watching could happen in reality I came up with an indecisive answer. I will not spoil the climax, but I will say that after the release of the film there were very strong rumors that Kubrick was on his way towards making a porno (porno seems like such an ugly word to associate with him, doesn't it?).
There are things that I liked about this movie which are pretty evenly counterbalanced by what I thought was amiss. Nicole Kidman gave some of her finest acting in parts of this film, but as good as she was that it how bad Cruise is. I don't know if he gave a poor perfomance, though, or he is simply a mediocre actor. I might just have prejudices against him. He is a very obvious actor who makes stupid choices, and always seems so forced. That is hard to get past when the supporting characters are each shaded with with surprising depth.
Surprisingly the writing was always forced. Nobody has conversations like Kubrick and Frederic Raphael wrote, and I think that was a major hindrance when the story itself was so extreme. If the writing is unbelievable and the story is nearly unbelievable then what is the audience supposed to take away from it? But of course the cinematic vision is undeniable--it always is with the master--and sometimes you simply have to sit back and marvel at his audacity.
While I watched this movie I began thinking about Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," and what she meant to the art world. This painting is unquestionably one of the most beloved of all time, and is pretty much universally considered one of the best paintings made. But why? If I went into a gallery not knowing her or the artist I might walk past it thinking it was a pretty picture, but maybe not thinking twice about it. It certainly doesn't compete with something like "The Last Supper," and I am sure that in their heart of hearts there are many others who would agree. So why is it held in such high esteem? It is considered da Vinci's masterpiece because he said it was so. He believed that it was his crowning achievement, and if da Vinci believed it was so then no two-bit art critic is going to say otherwise. Similarly, Kubrick said that Eyes Wide Shut was his best film. I am not sure why, but he believed it was better than A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, and Barry Lyndon. These other films are Kubrick's "The Last Supper" to me, but he found his girl with the mysterious smile. Will that make it his best picture? I hope that in 50 years I will look back and won't regret giving what may turn out to be his masterpiece a low score because I was too blind to see the genius. Like I said, only time will tell if this movie is any good.
2.5/4
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