Side Effects
Review by Anthony Morris
Director Steven Soderbergh has been talking about retiring for a while now, and if he does through with his plans that'll make Side Effects his final big screen film (he's got a biography of Liberace coming up for HBO).
And while Side Effects isn't exactly his best film – ever since Ocean's 11 he’s been making films that feel a lot more like technical exercises than anything he's really invested his heart and soul into – it's still a pretty high note to go out on.
When her husband (Channing Tatum) gets out of prison after an extended stay due to shady financial dealings, Emily (Rooney Mara) finds herself struggling to cope.
After a car crash that looks a lot like a suicide attempt her shrink (Jude Law) prescribes various medicines over an extended period of time as they try to find the ones that'll lift her mood without crippling side effects.
They fail: while in a sleepwalking state seemingly due to medication she commits a horrific crime.
Will she be found not guilty and the blame put on her medication? And if so, what does that mean for her shrink?
For a while this chilly thriller looks like it's going to be a sombre look at the way today’s (over-) medicated society looks for the quick fix for everything, but as things develop it turns out to be less interested in the way we live now and more about piling on the twists and turns a la the "sexy" thrillers of the 1990s.
Soderbergh's style is perfect for putting a classy sheen on the sleazy antics, while the cast – most noteably Law and Mara, but also Catherine Zeta-Jones as a rival shrink – do an excellent job of making their somewhat slim characters feel like well-rounded people.
Side Effects turns out to be a fairly slight film, but it’s a satisfying one, and for Soderbergh that's a pretty good note to go out on.
3 out of 5
Side Effects
Australian release: 28th February, 2013
Official Site: Side Effects
Cast: Channing Tatum, Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Director: Steven Soderbergh
