Side Effects (2013) ***1/2
Side Effects (2013) was way better than expected. I had been reading mostly middle-of-the-road to bad reviews. Soderbergh always delivers, even when he doesn't knock it out of the park.
This is more akin to his Bubble (2005) (though better), than any of his bigger budgets/Hollywood films, although I felt some traces of Contagion (2011) (ha, I think I just made a pun there).
Law is the highlight, Mara is good, but I still don't understand why Soderbergh has such a hard-on for Tatum (he's just so blasé).
Supposedly this is his last theatrically released film, then the Liberace TV movie and he's retiring. Which is sad and hopefully not true. He's one of my favorite directors ever because he always tries new things and he's always interesting.
I look forward to checking this out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to review your movies. It saves me from watching crap.
But sometimes crap is what I love!
DeleteI'm seeing this tomorrow. Wouldn't have been my first pick, but it's Mother's Day and I'm treating my mum. As someone whose admittedly limited Soderbergh exposure hasn't been all that positive, I'll do my best not to go in with unrealistic expectations.
ReplyDeleteVery good. I like just about everything he's done to varying degrees. I do love many of his films. Which ones have you seen?
DeleteCONTAGION and HAYWIRE (yeah, I know). I thought CONTAGION had promise but was mired by the fact that I didn't care about any of the characters. I'm afraid I just found HAYWIRE to be poor on every level - performances, script, cinematography, pacing, fight scenes...
DeleteBack from SIDE EFFECTS and I'm afraid it's a big "meh" for this one from me as well. Mara and Law did sterling work but the overall plot was ludicrous and clichéd in the extreme, particularly once it went into BASIC INSTINCT territory. And I'm afraid I really can't stand the low contrast, oversaturated, shallow depth of field digital look Soderbergh goes in for. This, coupled with the digital projection, made me feel like I was watching a poorly made TV show.
Hmmm, well you still may like his other films. He has so many! And so varied. You really ought to see Traffic and The Limey. Not sure how you'd like his other stuff. I think The Informant! is hilarious, I love Elmore Leonard and Out Of Sight is one of the best film adaptations of his stories, I like his version of Solaris a lot (particularly the score) and Kafka is great.
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