♥♥♥♥♥
+ Best Thriller of the Year
 |
| Four stars with apprehensive looks are divided by a blood-red medical cross on this poster for Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects |
Side Effects is Georgian master filmmaker Steven Soderbergh's (Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)) second film in 2013, the other one being Liberace-biopic Behind the Candelabra, which was also favorably reviewed by Film Excess here: Behind the Candelabra (2013) - Restraint and extravagance. It is his 24th feature.
This one is a psychological thriller about psychotropic drugs, their use, over-use and implications in America today. If it sounds like a university lecture for people with glasses, don't worry, it's not. Side Effects is a wildly successful suspense-movie.
Following a possible suicide attempt, the young wife of a convicted inside-trading perpetrator is introduced to some experimental drugs, which come with unexpected side effects.
Side Effects is also the kind of thriller where you don't want to give away an elaborate plot summary, because it would ruin too much of the ride of seeing the film. Suffice to say, Jude Law (Spy (2015)) is excellent as an over-worked but well-intentioned psychiatrist who finds himself in a serious jam; Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)) is his patient, Catherine Zeta-Jones (The Darling Buds of May (1991-93)) is her old psychiatrist, and Channing Tatum (22 Jump Street (2014)) is her husband.
The exciting script by Scott Z. Burns (The Laundromat (2019)) has more than one unforeseen twist, which impresses along the way. If you have misgivings that Side Effects looks more like well-intended criticism of the pharmaceutical world than an exciting watch, luckily, you're wrong. (And this is perhaps a fault in its marketing.) The film does implicitly say that our over-medicated culture comes with some sick, unwanted side effects, but it goes no further than that, keeping its eye square on the thriller ball.
All the actors are safe in Soderbergh's seasoned direction, and new-comer Mara surprised me positively with her performance in a difficult role. So look out for her.
Otherwise it's a slick and very enjoyable operation: Soderbergh's own photography is as usual über-professional; the editing is sharp, the pacing perfect. And Thomas Newman's (The Judge (2014)) score is right on.
SPOILER A couple of little things annoyed me slightly in the story: There's a scene wherein some people, including Law's doctor character, sit and talk, and they just so happen to shed light on the disagreeable grease that big pharmaceutical companies sometimes use to persuade doctors to use their drugs, (expensive tickets, dinners etc.) This is not really a necessary information for the particular story, and the lines spoken felt out of place. If Burns felt that needed to be in Side Effects, it could have been handled more smoothly elsewhere, I feel.
SPOILER The other little thing is the harsh reaction of the doctor's wife, once he starts to see a tough time. This may very well be a realistic reaction from a modern married woman today, but it is depressing, and we've seen it too much in recent fiction. How about building up relationships via fiction portrayals as well sometimes, instead of always pointing out how weak and easily collapsible the modern nuclear family is? And just to be clear, that path need not compromise the film's suspense. There are multitudes of other ways the wife could have reacted besides leaving her husband immediately.
These are, in any case, minor detractors from Side Effects, which has a top-performing and very good-looking main cast and a smart, pulsating story. Don't miss it.
Related posts:
Steven Soderbergh: Logan Lucky (2017) - Soderbergh returns with amusing, slow hillbilly heist comedy
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Magic Mike XXL (2015) - Lots of fun and skin but still no gay as Mike goes to the convention (cinematographer, editor)
2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess
Behind the Candelabra (2013) - Restraint and extravagance
Magic Mike (2012) - Soderbergh and Tatum score big with cheeky male strip romp
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Contagion (2011) - Soderbergh's global pandemic creep-out
Haywire (2011) - Soderbergh's taut, stylish ensemble actioner is a masterpiece
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
The Informant! (2009) - Soderbergh and Damon's terrific true-crime dramedy
Che Part One - The Argentine (2008) - Soderbergh's sober depiction of the Cuban revolution
Ocean's Twelve (2004) - Soderbergh returns with jumbled, glossy heist comedy sequel
Solaris (2002) - A suffering space question mark
2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Top 10: Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Erin Brockovich (2000) - Roberts, Soderbergh and Grant's triumphant biopic
Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 63.3 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.11 times its cost)
[Side Effects premiered 31 January (New York) and runs 106 minutes. Shooting took place in New York from April - May 2012. It opened #3, behind fellow new release Identity Thief and hold-over hit Warm Bodies, to a 9.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 32.1 mil. $ (50.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.5 mil. $ (11.8 %) and France with 3.6 mil. $ (5.7 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Soderbergh returned with Behind the Candelabra (2013). Mara returned in Her (2013); Tatum in G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013); Law in Dom Hemingway (2013); and Zeta-Jones in RED 2 (2013). Side Effects is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Side Effects?
No comments:
Post a Comment