It started badly. At the movie theater I asked for a ticket for Side Ways. In a low voice the clerk said the title is Side Effects. Oh, I said, using my advanced age as an excuse for my lapse. The side effects in Side Effect are often heard warnings on TV for anti depressant drugs: causes dry mouth, may cause dizziness, may cause insomnia and increased thoughts of suicide.
This movie is supposed to be a psychological thriller. Not to worry Hitch, you can rest peacefully. The cast is outstanding: Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Catharine Zeta-Jones and Jude Law. But with a loopy script and misdirected direction this top shelf cast is wasted. Only Rooney Mara did some acting as if she was zonked out on some powerful drug, not a push for a Hollywood actor. Regrettably for most of the movie Channing Tatum keeps his clothes on (Did I just say that?) Zeta-Jones plays an uptight psychiatrist who wears horrible square glasses and sports a hair bun is so tight it gives her face that yanked Botox look.
The financial sub plot is pedestrian. Hollywood is tapping in to the recent financial malaise to make the movie relevant. The only problem is their money scheme is implausible. As for the medical plot it lacked credibility. As a professional, Jude Law looked the part with his two day old bread and beige sweater vest. However, he made some bad calls which would have landed him in with a malpractice suit. Anti-depression drugs were tossed around like piñata candy. For a movie called side effects it seems that no read the warning label.
There was one redeeming scene between Zeta-Jones and Mara. They were standing close to each other, too close. Mara undid one button of Zeta-Jones’s white silk blouse; hope sprang eternal. It was getting pretty steamy when there was a rude knock at the door and then the scene went nowhere, just like the movie. I should have gone to see Side Ways.
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