3/4
Side Effects is a skillfully directed, sharply written, exquisitely acted film in the company of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Gone Girl. This is essentially the first Steven Soderbergh film I've ever seen, and I am motivated to see more. His direction implies an underlying intelligence.
This film hits on multiple levels: the STORY of the professional psychiatric world, media scrutiny, murder and motives is interesting; the ACTING is well-fitted, with Rooney Mara as a sort of schizophrenic (perfect), Jude Law as a straight man, a just professional, classy and thoughtful (I love it), Catherine Zeta-Jones as a sly and deceitful power-woman (could her eyebrows be any more perfect for this role?), and Channing Tatum as an ex-con with a good heart (very solid); the DIRECTION is artistic and powerful; the THEMATIC MATERIAL is worth wondering about. What does it mean to be insane? To what degree does this remove one from responsibility? How should we treat those who are seemingly less conscious than us; should we treat them as less human? Are they? Are we all less conscious than we think we are? Are we all insane? Free-will questions certainly surface here, and the best part is that they come up in a legal setting. How can our court of law handle this philosophical debate?
For all of its interesting content and powerful impact, Side Effects is still limited to me. It's a suspense, sort of a white-collar drama, and it doesn't make great statements about our human experience. It doesn't have to make great statements to get all four of my stars, but if it doesn't have that, it should probably have transcendental emotion or something. It's just a good movie; it's good entertainment.
