For suspense movies, it is very difficult to write a review that is too meaningful. In some cases, even the mere mention that thing are not what they appear to be already constitutes a spoiler. Steven Soderbergh is well known for making movies with issues. Even the title "Side effect", similar to "Traffic", suggests that this movie delves into the medical profession to expose issues on matters pharmaceutical. It would therefore constitute a spoiler when I intimate that this "issue" is used here to camouflage a crime thriller. But then, you have been warned.
Using liberally techniques such as VO leading into the next scene and in and out focus in the same scene, Soderbergh has created this tale of spellbinding suspense, not quite Hitchcock-ish, but intriguing nevertheless. During the first half of the movie, you won't quite see where it is heading. The story starts innocently with attractive 28-year-old Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) welcoming home husband Martin (Channing Tatum) released after four years' prison term for insider trading. This event, though a happy one, has triggered some of the depression problem she previously had but seemed mostly cured by a Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The recurrence takes the form of her driving deliberately into a wall. While escaping serious injury, she is brought into contact by a psychiatrist checking her out at the emergency ward (the fact that there was no braking lines look suspicious), leading to this Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) taking up her case. The story meanders a little around sporadic but continues recurrence of Emily's depression and Bank's prescription of a antidepressant called "Ablixa" which he is paid handsomely by a pharmaceutical corporation to test.
As you begin to wonder how the movie will pursue this ethically dubious (but not illegal) issue, the bombshell drops. Martin comes home; Emily stabs him dead with a kitchen knife, goes to the bed room, climbs into bed and sleeps. All of a sudden, Dr Banks finds himself in a most unenviable position of possibly administering a drug that turns a patient into a sleep-walking psychopath. But as I said, things may not be what they appear. Of the plot I will say no more.
Whether you find the plot too convoluted or absurdly predictable, whether you admire the clever twists or deplore the dumb plot holes, you would find this movie entertaining, for the acting and storytelling. Law has shown masterful virtuosi is steering a character that takes some sharp turns and keeps him on course. Someone in the league of Zeta-Jones will of course not be wasted. But the spotlight is on Mara who carries this movie with impeccable authority. I mentioned that this movie itself is not quite Hitchcock-ian, but then Mara is a perfect Hitchcock-ian heroine and it becomes her. This young (just turned 28) woman will go far.
Using liberally techniques such as VO leading into the next scene and in and out focus in the same scene, Soderbergh has created this tale of spellbinding suspense, not quite Hitchcock-ish, but intriguing nevertheless. During the first half of the movie, you won't quite see where it is heading. The story starts innocently with attractive 28-year-old Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) welcoming home husband Martin (Channing Tatum) released after four years' prison term for insider trading. This event, though a happy one, has triggered some of the depression problem she previously had but seemed mostly cured by a Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The recurrence takes the form of her driving deliberately into a wall. While escaping serious injury, she is brought into contact by a psychiatrist checking her out at the emergency ward (the fact that there was no braking lines look suspicious), leading to this Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) taking up her case. The story meanders a little around sporadic but continues recurrence of Emily's depression and Bank's prescription of a antidepressant called "Ablixa" which he is paid handsomely by a pharmaceutical corporation to test.
As you begin to wonder how the movie will pursue this ethically dubious (but not illegal) issue, the bombshell drops. Martin comes home; Emily stabs him dead with a kitchen knife, goes to the bed room, climbs into bed and sleeps. All of a sudden, Dr Banks finds himself in a most unenviable position of possibly administering a drug that turns a patient into a sleep-walking psychopath. But as I said, things may not be what they appear. Of the plot I will say no more.
Whether you find the plot too convoluted or absurdly predictable, whether you admire the clever twists or deplore the dumb plot holes, you would find this movie entertaining, for the acting and storytelling. Law has shown masterful virtuosi is steering a character that takes some sharp turns and keeps him on course. Someone in the league of Zeta-Jones will of course not be wasted. But the spotlight is on Mara who carries this movie with impeccable authority. I mentioned that this movie itself is not quite Hitchcock-ian, but then Mara is a perfect Hitchcock-ian heroine and it becomes her. This young (just turned 28) woman will go far.