Score: ***1/2 out of ***** (B)
*At the bottom of this review, I am posting my hopes for Oscar winners.*
Long Story Short: Steven Soderbergh, director of films as varied as Contagion and Magic Mike, continues to surprise with his choice of a pharmacological thriller. He gets some high-quality acting from the main characters, played by Rooney Mara and Jude Law, and gives his audience an intriguing take on depression, and the hows and whys of the ways society deals with it. I personally was disappointed at the abrupt change in direction in the last part of the film, but the ideas and acting are enough for me to recommend it overall.
What I thought might turn out to be another usual prolonged film drought in winter was unexpectedly interrupted last week. I had not even known this film existed until I checked Rotten Tomatoes to see what the current options were. Side note: Identity Thief seemed to have promise, but it was lambasted so badly by pretty much every critic that I didn't want to waste my money on it (I was pleased not to have wasted money on last year's The Dictator). When I checked what Side Effects was all about, I was intrigued: an interesting plot concept, a good cast, a notable director, and a very impressive critical reception (86% currently on RT). Sounds good to me! Side Effects was directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
After an opening of mysterious, foreshadowing scenes that take place later in the film, Side Effects introduces Emily (Mara), a young woman awaiting the release of her husband, Martin (Tatum), from prison for insider trading. There is great joy upon his return home, yet Martin finds that his wife has nevertheless relapsed into depression. It gets so bad that coming home from work, Emily tries to kill herself. In the hospital, she meets psychiatrist Jonathan (Law) and begs him to let her go home again. He agrees, but insists that she see him for therapy on a regular basis. Jonathan prescribes several anti-depressants to Emily but they don't work.
However, a new drug called Ablixa, recommended to Jonathan by Emily's previous psychiatrist (Zeta-Jones), works wonders on her despite having the side effect of occasional sleepwalking. It goes downhill from there, though, as the side effect causes Emily to commit a serious crime. As Jonathan defends Emily, he faces scrutiny as well for his methods.
One of Side Effects' draws for me, as I mentioned, was the cast, and it does not disappoint. Rooney Mara as Emily is the film's lead. I haven't seen Mara in much else, but she certainly shows her talent here. Especially early in the film, when there's not a lot of dialogue, Mara does a great job of communicating her inner turmoil with body language alone: the way she stares, the way she moves. Really strong lead performance. Jude Law as Jonathan is her primary co-star, and he similarly puts on a great show. He displays the intelligence and compassion that mark the exemplars of his field in psychiatry, yet also, when things go bad, the condescension of "you don't understand people like I do" while at the same time being blindsided by political and financial motives.
The film's supporting roles are filled by Channing Tatum as husband Martin, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Emily's old psychiatrist, Victoria. Tatum's part is fairly small, but he lends the role a gentle personality, sympathetic partner, and doesn't take attention away from the key player, Mara. Zeta-Jones also does a good job with her part, a rather stiff, unlikeable psychiatrist. Her role gets a little out of hand later in the film, but it's mostly the script's fault, not hers.
With Side Effects, I was looking forward to a dramatic take on a serious issue in the country: increased use of pharmaceuticals, and, specifically, anti-depressants. I was quite pleased by this aspect of the film. While it really focuses primarily on the main characters Emily and Jonathan, these characters are well-positioned (and well-acted) to represent the issue in a very believable way, with surprisingly few cliches. The aspects involved include everything from the sufferer's (Mara) lonely moments when you can see her thinking about giving up on life, to the struggles of medical personnel (Law) in deciding the best way to handle a situation, to the patient-removed motives of big pharma and consulting companies. The final shot of the film is one of the most effective I have seen in a while: an immense mental facility placed right beside a busy urban highway, representing, to me, how there is this massive issue in society that we encounter each day without necessarily realizing it. Humor was sparse, but that's the way it should be here. The score was quite good, particularly at the beginning of the film - as with watching Mara's body language, it's easier to pay attention to the music when there isn't constant dialogue.
***
"OK," you're probably thinking. "Based on all you've said, why didn't you rate this higher than a B?" To put it in as general terms as I can, I didn't like the direction the film took in the second half. If you don't want a slightly more spoiler-y explanation, STOP READING UNTIL YOU SEE ALL CAPS AGAIN! What appears in the first half of the film to be a completely plausible sequence of events and mixture of personalities, suddenly evolves into a conspiracy that keeps growing and growing. Admittedly, without said conspiratorial turn, poor Jonathan would have been left out to dry. As it is, Jonathan's character gets too smart, and Zeta-Jones too zany for my tastes, not to mention the details of the "real" story. OK YOU CAN START READING AGAIN. In my opinion, Side Effects would have been significantly better with a decent wrap-up to the events of the first half/two-thirds of the film, which would have resulted in a snappy ninety-minute or so running time. Instead, it dragged on and lost focus on the riveting depiction of a believable story in trying to change directions too quickly and too drastically. Still, you may (and clearly many critics do) disagree with me there. Despite my disappointment, I certainly recommend it for the first half and the great acting, though a theater trip isn't essential.
2013 Oscars
My hopes for the best picture, director, and acting categories:
Best Picture
Amour (haven't seen it)
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild (haven't seen it)
Django Unchained
Les Miserables (haven't seen it)
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
My pick: While Life of Pi is my favorite of the year, I know it doesn't have a chance, so I am pulling for Lincoln. The frontrunner seems to be Argo; while that's a very good film, and a worthy winner in a weaker year, this is a strong year and Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty are each at least a cut or two above it, in my opinion.
Best Director
Michael Haneke (Amour)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
My pick: In this category, Ang Lee stands out as the obvious choice for his remarkable job making such a difficult film. I guess my second choice would be Ben Affleck for Argo, for the way he balanced great tense parts with light, funny ones - oh, wait, that's right, he got snubbed. Then I guess I'd have to pick Kathryn Bigelow, for making bold narrative choices and leaving the audience to decide tough issues for themselves - what's that? She's not nominated, either? Academy Awards FAIL.
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Denzel Washington (Flight)
My pick: Daniel Day-Lincoln, of course. I did hear great things about Phoenix in The Master, so I want to check that out some time. Denzel also gave the best performance I've seen from him in years, if not ever, and he would be a deserving winner in most other years.
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
My pick: I've heard fantastic reviews of each of these performances, but only seen two of them. I would give the nod to Chastain over Lawrence in the more challenging role (plus I think Lawrence is just a little overrated). Great choices here, including both the youngest and oldest nominees in Oscar history!
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin (Argo)
Robert de Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
My pick: Hoffman is the only one I haven't seen. Of the other four, this category is about as easy as Best Actor: Tommy Lee Jones, no question. The other three did great jobs, no doubt - but Jones hit a grand slam in Lincoln.
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams (The Master)
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Helent Hunt (The Sessions)
Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
My pick: As with Best Actress, I'm afraid I've only seen two of the nominees' films. And one of them, Weaver, I honestly don't know why she was nominated. It wasn't bad, just... very small and inconsequential to the film. Sally Field, however, would be a perfectly deserving winner, in my opinion. That makes three actor picks from Lincoln. Interestingly, The Master has nominees in three categories, too, yet it doesn't have a best picture or best director nomination...
