Eyes Wide Shut

Released 1998
Stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Todd Field, Marie Richardson, Rade Serbedzija, Vinessa Shaw, Leelee Sobieski
Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star as Dr. Bill and Alice Harford, a married couple who move in rich Manhattan society. In a long, languorous opening sequence, they attend a society ball. The next night, at home, Alice and Bill get stoned on pot, and she describes a fantasy she had about a young naval officer she saw last summer while she and Bill were vacationing on Cape Cod: "At no time was he ever out of my mind. And I thought if he wanted me, only for one night, I was ready to give up everything ... ." There is a fight. Bill leaves the house and wanders the streets, his mind inflamed by images of Alice making love with the officer. And now begins his long adventure, as one sexual situation after another swims into view. The film has two running jokes, both quiet ones: Almost everyone who sees Bill, both male and female, reacts to him sexually. And he is forever identifying himself as a doctor, as if to reassure himself that he exists at all.

Summary by Roger Ebert

This film didn't work for me because of Tom Cruise's performance. Instead of portraying jealousy, rage, confusion, smoldering lust, or passion, he successfully turned in another smarmy Tom Cruise performance. It was disappointing, and I'm surprised that Kubrick, the ultimate control freak, thought Cruise was the man for the job. 

Bill Alward