Directed by ---------------- Stanley Kubrick 
Produced by --------------- Stanley Kubrick 
Written by ----------------- Stanley Kubrick, Frederic Raphael 
Executive producer -------- Jan Harlan 
Co-producer ---------------- Brian W. Cook 
Camera --------------------- Larry Smith 
Editor ------------------------ Nigel Galt 
Music ------------------------ Jocelyn Pook 
Production designers ------- Les Tomkins, Roy Walker 
Supervising art director ---- Kevin Phipps 
Art director ----------------- John Fenner 
Set decorators -------------- Terry Wells Sr., Lisa Leone 
Costume designer ---------- Marit Allen 
Assistant director ---------- Brian W. Cook 
Second unit camera -------- Patrick Turley, Malik Sayeed, Arthur Jaffa 
Casting ---------------------- Denise Chamian, Leon Vitali 
inspired by the novella “Traumnovelle” (Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler 
MPAA Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug-related material. 
Running time: 159 min 

 

Comments

"Eyes Wide Shut", the movie -  Tom Cruise plays a doctor married to Nicole Kidman. The two of them flirt and cheat on each other in both fantasy and reality starting with the holiday party in the New York apartment. 

Dreams, sexuality, deception, impulse, and the masks people wear amid mind altering drug sequences transcends where reality starts and ends. 

Move Reviews 

LA Times - Eyes Wide Shut LA Times Movie Reveiw - Los Angeles Times 16 July 1999. 

Variety - Eyes Wide Shut Movie Review by Variety. Reviw by Todd McCarthy, July 12, 1999. Daily entertainment trade magazine. 

Mr. Showbiz - Eyes Wide Shut Morality Plus Nudity. Review by Jeffrey Well, 12 July 1999. Part of the Go Network. 

Newsweek - Eyes Wide Shut Movie Review by the weekly magazine Newsweek 19 July, 1999 . 

Telegraph - Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut Movie Review by Electronic Telegraph of the UK with review by John Hiscock in Los Angeles issue 1508 Monday 12 July 1999. 

Other References 

Time - Eyes Wide Shut article All Eyes on Them in the weekly Time Magazine 5 July, 1999 vol. 154 no. 1 

Tom Cruise 

Tom Cruise Wednesday 14 July on ABC's evening show 20/20 with Diane Sawyer. See their Tom Cruise Eyes Wide Shut promo web page complete with on-line video. 

Tom Cruise review and interview with LA Times Eyes Wide Shut Tom Cruise Eyes in Focus article in the Los Angeles Times, Calendar section, Wednesday 14 July 1999. 

Premiere 

Look for the "Eyes Wide Shut" premiere Tuesday 13 July in Westwood, California (Westwood in the village like community just south of UCLA). 

Eyes Wide Shut final edit 

“Eyes Wide Shut” will be seen by the American public just as Stanley Kubrick finished it before his death in March. Well almost. The Daily Variety reports that there is an exception of 65 seconds of sexual material. The Motion Picture Assn. of America insisted  on a “digital adjustment” before it would  issue an R rating. See 12 July 1999 Daily Variety article on Eyes Wide Shut. Most of the world outside of the US will see the version without the digital adjustment. 

Venice International Film Festival - Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice International Film Festival, is negotiating to open this fall's 56th edition with "Eyes Wide Shut" as part of a special tribute to the director. Reported on page 39 article in Friday 12 March 1999 Daily Variety. 

Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing - The music you hear in the background on the steamy scene in the trailers for Eyes Wide Shut in early March is "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" by Chris Isaak. It can be found on his Forever Blue CD. That is, if you were listening to the music during the scene. 

Stanley Kubrick 
born: 26 July 1928, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. 
died: Sunday, 7 March 1999, St. Alban, outside London UK. 
residence: Stanley Kubrick lived in his rambling home in  St. Alban, outside London. The manor was located on a 172 acre estate north of London. 
Wife: Christiane Kubrick 

Stanley Kubrick as Director filmography 

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 
Full Metal Jacket (1987) 
Shining, The (1980) 
Barry Lyndon (1975) 
Clockwork Orange, A (1971) 
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 
Lolita (1962)  
Spartacus (1960)  
Paths of Glory (1957)  
Killing, The (1956)  
Killer's Kiss (1955)  
Fear and Desire (1953) 
Seafarers, The (1952) 
Flying Padre (1951)  
Day of the Fight (1950) 

"Eyes Wide Shut"  by Stanley Kubrick, Arthur Schnitzler, Frederic Raphael  Paperback - 192 pages (September 1999)  Warner Books; ISBN: 0446676322
"Eyes Wide Shut Soundtrack"  Various Artists - Soundtracks - 1999, Jocelyn Pook  Audio CD (July 13, 1999)  Wea/Warner Brothers; ASIN: B00000JG3P  Track Listings   1. Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing - Chris Isaak  2. Blame It On My Youth - Brad Mehldau  3. Jazz Suite 2 Waltz 2 - Concertgeboux Amsterdam  4. When I Fall In Love - The Victor Sylvester Orchestra  5. I'm In The Mood For Love - The Victor Sylvester Orchestra  6. Musica Ricercata No. 2 - Dominic Harlan  7. Backwards Priests - Jocelyn Pook  8. Migrations - Jocelyn Pook  9. Naval Officer - Jocelyn Pook  10. Dream, The - Jocelyn Pook  11. Strangers In The Night  12. Requiem - The Vienna Philharmonic  13. Gray Clouds - Dominic Harlan  14. I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good - Oscar Peterson Trio  15. Jazz Suite 2 Waltz 2 - Concertgeboux Amsterdam (Reprise)
"Rhapsody : A Dream Novel"  by Arthur Schnitzler, Otto P. Schinnerer  Hardcover reprint edition (June 1971)(July 1999)  AMS Press; ISBN: 0404056148
"Dream Story (Sun and Moon Classics, 6)"  by Arthur Schnitzler, Otto P. Schinnerer (Translator)  Paperback 2nd edition (January 1995)  Sun & Moon Pr; ISBN: 1557130817
"Forever Blue"  Chris Isaak  Audio CD (May 23, 1995)  Wea/Warner Brothers  Tracks  1. Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing  2. Somebody's Crying  3. Graduation Day  4. Go Walking Down There  5. Don't Leave Me On My Own  6. Things Go Wrong  7. Forever Blue  8. There She Goes  9. Goin' Nowhere  10. Changed Your Mind  11. Shadows In A Mirror  12. I Believe  13. End Of Everything, The

26 Jul - I normally don't verbally attack peoples opinions, but since those with opposing view to common sense and good taste don't mind mincing words neither do I. Quite simply you are an ignorant lot. You are defending a piss poor movie only because it was directed by a once great producer. This movie completely sucked. There is no way you could confuse this as a cinema masterpiece unless you watched it with your EYES WIDE SHUT AND STUFFED HEAD FIRST UP YOUR ASS!!! Get a clue people! I also realized that those of you who defend this movie are for the most part complete human waste. You seem to have the inability to tolerate the opinions of others so you had to attack them here. (I of course realize I am practicing hypocrisy at this point, but it is necessary.) I suggest seeking audience from groups that normally deal in this type of closed mindedness and lack of tolerance. You may find groups that deal in prejudice and hate to share a great many views with you.

25 Jul - I have read the reviews and I have seen the film - three times in the first week. This is the first time I have ever been drawn to a film in this way. The reviews are mixed, as they typically are for a Kubrick film and that's fine with me. Not everyone will appreciate what the director was doing. The first time I saw it I knew I liked it but wasn't quite sure why. Trying to take it all in was difficult. It felt long and slow, which I don't mind, considering the frantic pace of most Hollywood films today. The second time I was absorbed by the stunning art direction - the use of color and the placement of objects and characters on the screen. The pace of the film was just right this time. The third time (and not the last) I saw the logical progression of the story as told by the movement of the camera. This time the film seemed to move by all too quickly. Favored sequences were over in a flash. This is a masterwork that demonstrates what film can be at its best. The story is deceptively simple, a morality play about the dangers of wandering outside the marital vows, both as fantasy and reality. But the texture and subtle nuances between characters and set, the use of time and the rhythm of speech, the communications process itself, and the use of music as sound effect all support the story, move the plot (however thin it actually was), and manage to remain distinctly separate. Films like this are too few and far between. Can't wait to see it again.

25 Jul - I didn't think I'd be able to voice my opinion on this film, but here I am, to let at least one soul see what I'm thinking. The film was a wondrous piece. To be summed up as a film of raw, intense, subtle, in-your-face, contradictory, and extraordinary ideas. And I was more than glad that I was able to see it. Especially before I heard the good and bad comments about it. I went into the theatre not expecting anything, not even knowing who Stanley Kubrick was. I came out with such a sense of satisfaction, a sense of wonderment that a movie could convey such thoughts and emotions. I had seen others, but none where I knew automatically that there would be such a contrast in response to it. I'll have to admit to being underage to see "Eyes Wide Shut", though unlike some of the authors of a few comments I've read, not under maturity to see it. I've noticed the divide in thoughts about the film and how the two groups are distinct. There are those who seem thoughtful and liked it, and those who didn't. A group who's vocabulary seems elevated and willingness to think is not reproached. Though I'm not here to insult anyone, I understand many went in for entertainment, the fast-paced movies that one in this society has come used to. But above all this, I liked the film. I'm now looking into buying the script and again know that I will not be disappointed in the least. Thank you Mr. Kubrick, for enlightening me.

25 Jul - Tom Cruise should stick to dancing in his underwear. Kubrick's cinematography and artistic vision are impeccable in "Eyes Wide Shut." Kidman's acting is adequate, but watching Cruise is painful. His incessant squints and grins detract from the angst of his character. After the orgy, when Sydney Pollack's character tells Cruise he's been in over his head for the past 24 hours, all I could think was that Cruise had been in over his head since he took the role. If American censors could add computer generated figures to block the explicit sex scenes during the orgy, perhaps they can replace Tom Cruise with an actor of greater depth and substance.... such as Rupert Everett (see "The Kindness of Strangers" and "Another Country"). It would be easy for me to say that Tom Cruise ruined the movie, but Kubrick cast him. What a tragedy.

25 Jul - I'm not saying that it's impossible for someone to genuinely find value in this film, but I do think that many of those going on and on about the film's inherent brilliance are much like those artsy types who can look at a painting with nothing but a solid black background, and see the "meaning" and "brilliance" in the artist's work. Sure, the rest of us must be plumbers and dishwashers, if we can't see what the more "cultured" Eyes Wide Shut fans see, right? Wrong -- Just because the movie was made by a director with a big name doesn't mean a thing. Absolutely, the movie explored a deep topic that was heretofore unexplored in the film genre. However, the movie was plotless, and had no resolution. It was long and painful to sit through. I'm an intelligent person; I have a college education and I am very skilled at deciphering a novel's or a film's twisted and difficult message. This film, though, was simply poorly done in my opinion. I give it two thumbs down.

23 Jul - We have seen many of Kubrick's films and have completely understood them. All I have to say is this: what exactly was that?!?!?!? As we were leaving the theater, we were discussing the insanity of the movie, dare I call it that, the couple walking ahead of us said "I guess you don't know anything about Stanley Kubrick, do you?" Well, I guess we don't. How could two actors with such strong names and careers actually make and be proud of their performance in a movie such as this. If I am wrong, let me know because I feel that my boyfriend and myself are quite intelligent people. P.S. If someone could tell me the plot?.?.?. . . .

23 Jul - I've never been to movie before where a story can weave itself around you so tightly that when you see a completely nude woman, you don't really register her as such. Eyes Wide Shut was like listening to Stanley Kubrick speak of his most interesting fears and visions--at a strip club. The interesting thing is that you're so intrigued by his reminiscing, you forget that naked women are all around. What I can't figure out is whether or not I liked the distraction. Oh, and there was a little Christmas tree next to every door in the film. I guess Stanley really liked little Christmas trees. --The only 20 year old in America who liked Eyes Wide Shut

23 Jul - The world is made up of two kinds of people; those who like Stanley Kubrick's work and those who don't understand it. Eyes Wide Shut is another visually astounding piece from a master of lighting and sets. Kubrick again has created a world within a world that is complex, confusing but complete in and of itself. As usual, all the characters, major and minor, are played superbly. The score, as always, is wonderfully fitting, unobtrusive when it needs to be, but complimenting, adding to and rounding out the outstanding visuals on screen. The story is not an easy one but with sex surrounding them at every turn, both Dr Bill and Alice do finally stay true to each other. Both at times appear to be naive and childish but both are strong, moral characters at the end. Warner Brothers, (in spite of the digital censorship which I personally did not find particularly bothersome), is to be commended for allowing Stanley to do his own thing over the years. A unmatched body of work has resulted, all of which, including Eyes Wide Shut, can be enjoyed over and over again.

23 Jul - The title should stand for those who have not seen the film but have formed a critical opinion of it. Reading of the earlier comments here, I thought back about "unlining themes" and remembered the cotton underwear beneath his lederhosen, but with regard to the sub plots mentioned, I failed to see a single reference to U boats at all. Obviously that person viewed a different film than I. The audience won't see the fellatio in the film, but they ask their kids for details or read the newspapers during the impeachment trial of the President if they want. The covered-up intercourse should never be shown to an adult American who might try something normal like that with his female partner. There's none of that gay stuff that they usually load films with. When you walk out, you realize that you need to see it again with an educated eye. With respect to the movie varying from the novel--name one adaptation for film that does not vary in one way or another. Don't complain, sit back and enjoy. If you don't like it, you try to write a screenplay and you'll see how difficult it is, especially with a complex theme such as this. Not every film can be a simple Stephen King flick for the masses (with no disrespect intended Steve).

23 Jul - This movie was way too cool. The attention to detail, the pacing, the music, I could not find a single flaw in any part of the actors performance or the direction. How the dreamy effects of fantasy be combined with cold reality so completely could only be done by a genius. Why so much nudity and sexual action and innuendo did not arouse me can only be explained by my rapt involvement with the caricatures and the story. Without even seeing it again I'm sure more details and innuendo would surface when seen a second time even though I try not to watch any movie more than once. This one gets a TEN in any critics book.

22 Jul - I saw the film last Friday in Atlanta and thought it was brilliant. The transitions from scene to scene are masterful. That piano playing was playing on my spine. So many critics don't seem to get it-it is about fantasy and reality and the blending that happens especially in matters sexual. In art it is commonly known that the critics are always way behind the artists. It is hard to believe now that the Impressionists were ridiculed. I think Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are gifted and superb artists, way ahead of their time. I felt privileged to watch their performance. 

22 Jul - WOW! What a movie! This is such a great work of art for Kubrick, Kidman and Cruise. I HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE AGAIN; I know I only absorbed maybe 30% of what a film like this has to offer. It's mind boggling the many subliminal messages that you get from a quality film like this. Incredible! I was just so awestruck by this movie. VERY TASTEFULLY DONE - LEFT ALOT TO THE IMAGINATION! My only fear though.... normal, non-think outside the box people won't get it and will feel threatened by a movie like this ... they'll comment on the "sex" and inappropriateness of certain scenes. I really hope that this movie gets the acclaim it deserves and doesn't get sidelined just because people don't understand it.

21 Jul - While reading comments on this page I realized how much people can be stupid. It seems like some of them went to see Eyes Wide Open and expected an action movie! People who can't appreciate a good movie shut up and go see Inspector Gadget! Maybe this movie ain't Kubrick's best ever, but it still is a work of genius! 

21 Jul - Go see this film! Save yourself a sleeping pill for that night! Pointless, slow-paced, plot holes the size of moon craters. Did anyone else notice that the nipples on the druggie he saved didn't match those on the "sacrificial" babe at the orgy , who was supposed to be the same woman? How did she know it was Bill at the party? He was masked, and she had seen him only once, while emerging from a heroin/coke o.d. And why was everyone so afraid of Bill being at that orgy? You can see the same stuff at any sex club in any major American city every day. He couldn't identify anybody in those stupid masks, anyway, so what's the big deal? About that prostitute he went home with: do they really have street hookers that good looking in New York? The apartment Bill and Alice lived in looked like a plastic surgeon's, not a general practitioner's. I could go on, but I'm groggy from just having seen this flick. So let's wind up by saying that all the inconsistent things could have been overlooked if the dialogue hadn't been soooo paaiiinnfulllyy sssllooowww!!! No thriller, this...... a real snooze. 

21 Jul - This is probably the best film I have seen in a long, long time. Kubrick, it seems to me, takes a similar approach to film as did the Formalist critics to literature: he treats the work as a more or less arbitrary assemblage of interrelated elements or devices (such as sound, imagery, color, rhythm, and narrative), and what all of these devices--taken together--produce is a "defamiliarizing" or "estranging" sense that "deforms" reality in various ways so that our everyday worlds become suddenly unfamiliar. In our "normal" responses to the world, our perceptions of reality become stale, predictable, blunted, "automatized" the Formalists would say. Kubrick forces the viewers into a dramatic awareness of the film itself, so that they have to grapple with it in a self-conscious, more strenuous way, with the result that our worlds become more vividly renewed. By estranging ordinary reality, it paradoxically brings the viewers into a fuller and more intimate possession of normal existence. This doesn't happen with most of the typical Hollywood pablum. Anyone who has seen a variety of Kubrick's films, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, and now Eyes Wide Shut should recognize by now that he does not "tell" a story, but rather that he creates an eerily surreal experience woven from masterfully orchestrated devices and vignettes that taken together are moving and compelling. Looking for "plot" is to miss the point--like, complaining that a Picasso painting doesn't "look" like anything. 

20 Jul - Saw EYES WIDE SHUT and could not get my money back. A terrible way for Kubrick to end his career, obvioudly out-of-touch with what might SHOCK a 1999 audience. He would have been better off making a period piece(he was grrrrrr-eat at that) and kept the movie in the 19th century where the novel took place. Otherwise, the mystery of sex and the fact that an elite gathering for semi-anonymous passion, which they weren't experiencing in their marriage or in their repressed society, seems ludicrous. 

Plainly: don't waste your money. It is ill-wrought, incomplete. Poor dialogue and a laughable delivery by Cruise and Pollack(who should stick to directing)   We laughed hilariously during one of the closing scenes between Pollack and Cruise, the scene where Pollack divulges his participation to Cruise. A silly film for immature people. I give it a  FIVE YAWN rating. Kept waiting for the element of surprise or shcok: IT NEVER DELIVERED EITHER. 

20 Jul - I absolutely loved it!! The late great Mr. Kubrick does it again, blending stunning visuals with captivating performances. The steady level of suspense running through the film kept me on the edge of my seat, and the exotic soundtrack made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I came out of this film refreshed in the reason I'm a film student, and depressed that one of the screens most beloved geniuses is no longer with us. Bravo Mr. Kubric!! 

20 Jul - i wanted so much to love this movie. i left the theater wondering what it was i was supposed to get out of it. I have since read that schnitzler was writing about the evil that was laying under the romanticism of vienna prior to wwll. Possibly with that in mind kubrick was telling a story about a sexually naive man who has experienced sex only in a loving, trusting relationship with his wife and is suddenly exposed to a whole side of sexuality he knew nothing about. That would have made an interesting movie now that I think about it. Unfortunately Cruises character stays passive, and does not appear to have learned much from what he has experienced. I have read there were many rewrites, discussions and improvisations along the way. I think that he lost sight of where he wanted ultimately to go. I fear if it were not Kubrick"s last film and attributed to someone else it would be dismissed as a good attempt, but not a masterpiece. 

19 Jul - For the first time in my life I feel completely passionate about sending out a message into this void. This movie is one of the most brilliant movies I have seen for a long time. The complexity of the plot and the beauty of the message can probably only be understood by the most intricate of minds. Sadly, this is definitely not for the masses. 

19 Jul - I just have to say that I thought the movie was marvelous. Many people are saying that the movie was crude, boring and a waste of time and money, but, I think these people are missing the underlining messages in the movie. If one takes time to look at all the symbols and look deeply into the movies themes and sub plots then I think that they would find the movie extremely intriguing and a rather interesting view on one's dreams and desires. I think Kubrick did a wonderful job and created yet another stunning masterpiece. 

19 Jul - Recently I enjoyed the experience of viewing Kubricks film, and sad to say his last. Eyes Wide Shut. A fitting title for the dark thrilling satire of the humans perspective of our own sexuality and how we'd rather hid our faces behind our insecure being. It's sad that people go into the movies wanting, wanting, wanting. Simple minded people who want plot and story served to them on a silver plater. Why not tempt youself to achieve an understanding for youself. -- Canadian Movie Man P.S. ….. If you can't understand it for yourself, why not go see AirForce One again.... 

19 Jul - "Eyes Wide Shut"! Too bad mine weren't during the movie! Absolutely no entertainment value whatsoever! I am on a personal quest to make sure anyone I come in contact with knows how bad this movie really is. When I watched the "Entertainment Tonight" segment that highlighted the movie premiere, I wondered why so many people who were interviewed after the film had such a hard time expressing their feelings about what they saw. Now I know! They were trying to be loyal Hollywood actors and at the same time hoping their projects won't bomb that bad! Bring back "Waterworld", at least there was something to laugh at in that flick. 

19 Jul - Hollywood for too long has molded reality into a celluloid dream, one in which our lives have been swallowed. Only Kubrick would attempt to plunge deep into our souls and minds, confronting us with everyday issues so powerfully with a work like this. No stranger to the extremes, he depicts relationships darkest and most common problem with all the intensity it should be dealt with. I see now, forever changed. Kubrick has left us, but his visions are stained in our minds. Great film! 

18 Jul - This movie was great!!! If you are the kind of person who enjoys tormenting yourself with nonsensical, pointless, and plotless film, this is the one! I left the theatre wanting more...... more of an idea of what the hell just happened...... more of an idea of what shameless individuals decided to let this story make it to the screen. I can't believe that two such noteworthy and talented performers would allow their good names and abilities to be wasted on such drivel. I was so disappointed in the movie to say the least. I was still looking for the story line as the credits were rolling. I've read through a couple of the reviews listed on this page and can't help but feel that these people must have watched this movie with their "Eyes Wide Shut". I give this film three thumbs up....... right up the hind end of all who had a hand in producing it. This film is indicative of many pathetic films now being shown in theatres that boast a cast of star performers (ie...Wild, Wild West). The main theme of all are the same " Get the peoples money at any cost!". Spare yourself the indignity of feeling ignorant because you didn't understand this movies message, because there is none. Don't bother watching it. I recommend taking the $25.00 dollars it would have cost you to see this and spend it on something more worth while (maybe a tattoo that reads "I LOVE MOM!!!) 

18 Jul - My husband and I saw this movie last night. We were also anxious to see it, both Cruise fans. Well, it was the most pointless movie we have ever seen. Not only did we waste hard earned money, but we wasted more than two and a half hours of our time! The theater was rather full, and when the movie ended, there was so much groaning I was amazed. It showed that we were not the only ones that were truely disappointed. I expected more from Tom Cruise. I heard the movie gave him an ulcer. I don't doubt it. After 2 1/2 hours of watching that movie, I felt like I had one. Who can I talk to to get my money back? 

18 Jul - Could someone please tell me how the "Ex Beauty Queen" could be dropped off at her apartment after the orgy alive and well at 5am , and yet be found dead in a hotel and have a nice long article on page 3 of the NY Post that morning? Unless the Post is an afternoon paper, this seems a rather large hole for Stan to have overlooked. If you have an explanation … 

18 Jul - I found it slightly upsetting to read the comments posted on this page, but then this reassuring thought came to me: that if every one searched a bit further and inquired deeply into existence, there would be no plumbers, electricians, etc., to make it easier for those who can, to contribute something of worth to life. 

17 Jul - I can't actually believed I am writing a comment about the movie, at all. Normally, I go to movies to enjoy myself, and I can't say that that occurred this time. I haven't been so bored at a movie in a long time, not since "Meet Joe Black." There was nothing to recommend to anyone one I like. I might try to convince my enemies to go. First of all, what kind of practicing doctor is he? He appears to be able to spend so much time at night and during the day, at least for a day and a half, doing nothing but chasing a ridiculous "dream." The music was less than impressive. I bet I could play it, and I am certainly no concert pianist. 

The worst part of all was Tom Cruise's acting. Every time he needed to open his mouth, it took him five minutes of gestures to get anything out. Nicole Kidman was always in some altered mental state (i.e. drunk, stoned, half-asleep). I had trouble finding the point, or any redeeming quality, in the movie. I have to laugh to myself at movie makers who attempt to delineate some dark aspect of life and take themself so serious in the process when ultimately they fail to portray anything in their attempt to be sublime. -- A disgruntled movie goer. 

PS. where did they find the movie reviewers to pay off to get good reviews? 

17 Jul - Eyes Wide Shut was a brilliant film, however, because of the inherently abstract nature of sexuality, the film had to work through metaphor in order to divulge Kubrick's Freudian views of reality and sexuality. To me, this movie was about the repression of sexuality in Western culture and its effects on the human (male and female) psyche. This was the story of Bill's unconscious struggle between his attempt to satisfy his sexual drives and his desire for his comfortable suburban lifestyle. Although his sexual desires drove him toward many attempts to fulfill his lust, all of the roads he took brought him out of the sexual world, and back to reality. The phone call from his wife at the hooker's apartment, the revelation of the hooker's medical condition, the warning from the masked naked girl, and finally the mask on the bed were all the ends of paths that he had taken to discover his sexuality which ended in shoves back into the reality of guilt and repression, which is where he necessarily belonged. I believe any movie that makes one think about the reason why the film was made has already accomplished its worthiness as a work of art. Just as conceptual artists attempt to spur a discussion of art through almost untranslatable abstraction and loss of representation, many movies that don't readily yield a meaning achieve the goal of fulfillment and personal enlightenment of the viewer through the discussion that is produced by the obscured representation of the intent. 

17 Jul - It will be a long time before I go to another Cruise movie. The sex and nudity were not the offensive parts. The long, boring, uneventful plot was the offense. I felt I was in a B-rated flick (a bad one at that.) I should have read some of these comments before I wasted my money. 

17 Jul - this was one of the worse movies i have ever seen... no value... at all... i am offended and insulted to have paid $10 to see this with my wife... it was a terrible movie... i have lost all respect for tom cruise and nichole kidman. 

17 Jul - Eyes Wide Shut was a very strange movie. I was so excited anticipating the arrival of this film to theatres. I felt very let down, the movie was so slow and Cruise continuously repeated every question that was asked to him. When watching this movie I felt a since of evilness that really made me uncomfortable to the point that had I not been with friends I would have walked out. Which some people in fact did leave. The bodies of the nude women looked exactly alike. Tom and his wife really disappointed me. I guess they were trying to be very "real" by having Nicole wiping herself after going to the bathroom. Some things need to be left to the imagination. The movie just did not flow. Thanks! 

17 Jul - I do have to say this movie was amazing. Like Kubrick's other films, it is not the plot or the actors per se that make it a wonder. It is purely the mood, the settings, the lighting, and the lack of dialogue that transform the viewers into fantastic dreamers. The movie takes you on a journey spouting out bits and pieces of montage and storyline, which at first may seem choppy or nonsensical, but in completion is what makes the audience reel with wonderment and really FEEL frightened, connected, bewildered, and highly pleasured all in the same instant. This is Kubrick's genius and only the frail of mind and soul can look at this film and yearn for more plot. The purpose of Kubrick's films is to touch a subconscious chord with the audience in the deepest wells of their minds that they didn't even know they had. His films are pure art and "Eyes Wide Shut" ends a powerful career of artistic genius from the mind and soul of Stanley Kubrick. And props to the film score which was undeniably haunting and thought-provoking. 

16 Jul - Could not resist posting comments. This film left me with an unsatisfied feeling that I have not experienced since "The Boxer." It trudges on at a painfully slow pace, with only its wonderful musical score holding it together. Cruise's character, Bill, spends much of the film walking around like a lost puppy, having very little to say and even less to do. It is almost as if the movie was made piece-meal -- many seemingly unrelated events put together to support a very weak plotline. What was the purpose of the scene where Bill is told that the hooker he met the night before has been diagnosed with HIV? Or when the costume shop owner reveals that his daughter is a prostitute? Or when Bill breaks down in tears in front of his sleeping wife when he sees the mask laying on the bed? At times I did not mind the pace. It made for a near dream-like feel. However, the film is more visual than dialogue, more mood than story ... and that, in my opinion, is its downfall. The visual can only take you so far. Without direction (i.e., plot), this leaves us nothing more than images burned onto film. 

16 Jul - Could not resist posting comments. This film amazed me more about what happened to ME in the ten minutes after it was over than about the movie itself. I "figured it out" in the bathroom. That is to say, I discerned what it meant for me and I loved it. Without divulging, I would say that this wasn't Kubrick's homage to sex, death, dream, infidelity, reality, fantasy, nightmare, or the blurring of any of those so much as it was his exercise in pure unrelenting STRESS. Not fear, not suspense, not edge-of-seat, but two hours and thirty nine minutes of shot right in the veins, up neat, feels like heartburn must be a heart attack STRESS. In answer to that, echoing the last word of the movie, I dare anyone to NOT absolutely require having sex after this movie is over. This is what Kubrick, I think, intended and why I believe he is brilliant. I've never been so satiated in my whole life. The music is sublime. -- Signed, plunging 

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