Steven Soderbergh is a name well known to many, bringing us such movies as 'Oceans 11','Erin Brockovich' and 'Traffic' so when he announced that 'Side Effects' would be his final film behind the camera a little thought creeped into the back of my mind.... Has he saved the best for last? Soderbergh picks up in similar territory where he left off with 'Contagion' in the realm of drugs, pharmaceuticals and death.
'Side Effects' is centered on a young woman named Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) who was having a hard time adjusting to her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) going to jail for insider trading. As her mental stability beings to deteriorate she drives her car into a wall on purpose, proving just how off she is. When a psychiatrist (Jude Law) begins to prescribe Emily with drugs to help, her world is turned upside down by unexpected side effects of all these new drugs.
This is a very well paced, well acted and well directed piece of cinema fashioning a cleverly-constructed puzzler that starts out as one thing and very seamlessly and organically becomes another, all the while frequently misdirecting the audience but never cheating them. Rooney Mara is on top form in this movie bringing the same intensity that she brought to Lisbeth in 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' but in a very different way, its hard to really say anymore but the evolution of Emily is something else and I'm sure everyone will enjoy watching. Jude Law is also fantastic in this, watching his character struggle with the fallout of the incident with Emily and his struggle to find out why is happen is very well played by him, I feel we haven't seen Law this good in years, lets keep it coming.
Is 'Side Effect' going to be remembered as the classic movie that Soderbergh bowed out on? More then likely not, but what it is is smart, well-written, tightly-constructed, excellently-acted, masterfully-directed, and above all, extremely entertaining. Check it out if you get a chance.
'Side Effects' is centered on a young woman named Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) who was having a hard time adjusting to her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) going to jail for insider trading. As her mental stability beings to deteriorate she drives her car into a wall on purpose, proving just how off she is. When a psychiatrist (Jude Law) begins to prescribe Emily with drugs to help, her world is turned upside down by unexpected side effects of all these new drugs.
This is a very well paced, well acted and well directed piece of cinema fashioning a cleverly-constructed puzzler that starts out as one thing and very seamlessly and organically becomes another, all the while frequently misdirecting the audience but never cheating them. Rooney Mara is on top form in this movie bringing the same intensity that she brought to Lisbeth in 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' but in a very different way, its hard to really say anymore but the evolution of Emily is something else and I'm sure everyone will enjoy watching. Jude Law is also fantastic in this, watching his character struggle with the fallout of the incident with Emily and his struggle to find out why is happen is very well played by him, I feel we haven't seen Law this good in years, lets keep it coming.
Is 'Side Effect' going to be remembered as the classic movie that Soderbergh bowed out on? More then likely not, but what it is is smart, well-written, tightly-constructed, excellently-acted, masterfully-directed, and above all, extremely entertaining. Check it out if you get a chance.
