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HOORAY FOR 1933—EIGHTY YEARS LATERSIDE EFFECTS
Channing Tatum plays a financial trader who’s just finished serving a prison term. As he tries to rebuild his life, his wife (Rooney Mara) displays severe emotional problems that cause her to seek out a psychiatrist, played by Jude Law. He comes to regret taking on this particular patient, especially when he learns from another psychiatrist (Catherine Zeta-Jones) that she has a troubled history. Clearly, there’s more here than meets the eye here, but Law is the last one to figure that out—and the one who ultimately has the most to lose. For me to reveal more would be a crime, if you’ll pardon the expression.
Law’s character is an unusual combination of hero and patsy. He is far from perfect and isn’t blame-free for what transpires with his volatile patient. (More details I can’t divulge…sorry!) Soderbergh and Burns keep us guessing who’s who and what’s what right to the end of their serpentine story.
Yet the quality that makes Side Effects so fresh—a protagonist who turns out to be a flawed character—also makes it difficult to feel a complete sense of satisfaction when all the story threads are tied up. That’s my only quibble with this highly original, well-cast piece. In an old movie, we would have been able to share a smile with the hero once the dust has settled…but this is 2013 and storytelling, like life, is a bit more complicated than it used to be.
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2 Comments
Daniel Delago | February 9, 2013 6:51 AM
I saw it last night. I love a good psychological thriller and due to Scott Z. Burns' intelligent screenplay with plenty of plot twists, this film was diabolical fun.
Kyle | February 8, 2013 4:20 PM
Thanks for the review, I think I'm gonna go see this!