Side Effects review

Adam: When reviewing a film like Side Effects, one must be careful to avoid giving away any important plot points as to not spoil the story. As someone who detests having films spoiled for me, I have gone to great lengths to avoid spoiling anything in my reviews; the same is true for this one. I just wanted to clarify that any and all reviews written by me on this blog will be spoiler-free. It seemed important to say such a thing before this review since it is certainly a film with twists and surprises that need not be ruined.

On a separate note, Riley and I will be posting our 2013 Oscar predictions within the next week or so (and obviously BEFORE the Oscars airs). Stay tuned!

Also, I just wanted to thank everyone who visits the page and reads the posts. We broke 1,000 views after only four months of being live, which is wonderful in my opinion. We couldn’t have done it without you, so thank you for sharing in our love of film!

Without further ado, please enjoy my review of the psychological thriller Side Effects, opening in theaters today.

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Side Effects: A Beautiful, Bizarre Bitter Pill

viewed and reviewed by Adam Stutsman

Director Steven Soderbergh has been a busy man this past year. Since late September’s release of Contagion, we’ve also seen Haywire, Magic Mike, and now Side Effects (as well as an HBO film about Liberace), bringing Soderbergh’s directorial efforts in the past year to five, a feat almost unthinkable for any director (especially since they’re all decent to great films). The highly publicized reason for such output is Soderbergh’s upcoming break/possible retirement from filmmaking to pursue painting. But after how great Side Effects is, I’m honestly sad we aren’t getting five more this year.

Side Effects can be described as a “medical thriller” or what would happen if Alfred Hitchcock was left to wander around a psychiatric hospital. It has twists that keep you guessing until the very end, but even when it ends, you’re still working on unraveling it.

The film follows a psychiatrist named Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) and a young woman named Emily Taylor (hauntingly played by Rooney Mara), as they try to treat Emily’s depression with different medications. None of them are working…until she tries a new drug called Ablixa. She has energy, focus, and happiness once again, but all of that comes crashing when she wakes to find a dead body in her home, with Emily as the only suspect. The rest of the film traces the twists and betrayals of the characters, and leaves you wondering if you can actually trust anyone at all.

That’s all I’ll say concerning the plot, but I would like to focus on the other fantastic things that happen in this movie. As I alluded to earlier, the acting is great. Rooney Mara can truly do no wrong in my book, Jude Law is a master, Catherine Zeta-Jones is demented, and Channing Tatum is, well, acting.  (The poor guy really does get too much hate.)

Soderbergh’s directing has been called Hitchcock-ian in reference to this film, and I completely agree. I would certainly call this a “post-Hitchcock thriller” which is something we don’t see very often. Soderbergh is also often compared to David Fincher, (I personally believe Fincher to be the superior director), but this comparison is probably made because the two directors use the same camera, which gives the atmosphere a cold, industrial feel. The pacing is sort of twist-to-twist, but not in a gimmicky way. Rather it’s done in a way that whets an apatite for repeat viewings and close observation of characters.

Overall, Side Effects is one of the best new thrillers I’ve seen in quite some time. It opens today, so go catch a showing, untangle its twists, and see if you can really trust anyone…or if greed and power are universal corruptors.