“When people talk about insider trading it’s like it might as well be murder,” Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) says near the beginning of Steven Soderbergh’s newest film “Side Effects”. Emily’s husband, Martin (Channing Tatum), has just been released from prison and the New York couple are trying to start a new chapter in their lives. Suffering from severe depression, Emily sees a new psychiatrist (Jude Law) who prescribes her with a new drug – Alixa. When there are unexpected side effects, the plot takes twists and turns to lead to events that are in no way predictable.
The film opens up slow with an immediate sense of dreary paranoia that leads to obsession, lust and deceit in an excellent psychological thriller that’s like a mix of “Psycho” and “The Game,” but still new and all its own. The slow tuned focusing of many of the shots, typical in Soderbergh’s cinematography, works extremely well in setting the tone of the film in a way that you never know exactly what to believe. Like the eventual clarity of each shot, the film ends with clarity that will leave you completely satisfied with its originality. The acting is phenomenal, Rooney Mara is truly captivating – she is an actress to keep track of in every way.
The excellent score by 11 time Academy Award nominee Thomas Newman seems to have a Atticus Ross/Trent Reznor feel to it. The film couldn’t have been as well executed without Scott Z. Burns, who produced and wrote the screenplay. The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones who is pure dynamite. Although the film may not be for everyone, it still comes strongly recommended. Without any more information, just go see it!
“Side Effects” is now playing in theaters everywhere.
