Side Effects
★★★★
Dir: Steven Soderbergh
(2013)
The very public retirement the outspoken, genre bending Steven Soderbergh came with the release of two films; This years Behind the Candelabra (a bio pic of an intense period of the life of composer Liberace) and, true to the directors eclectic stylings Side Effects which is a sort of social commentary laden thriller about the over medication of the general public which morphs several times into a stranger and stranger beast. It's thankfully and cleverly a film which somewhat encapsulates the career of an un-pin-able, endlessly creative mind by, itself twisting and turning its way out of every corner.
We begin with an excellent Rooney Mara playing Emily awaiting the release of her husband (Channing Tatum) from a stint in jail for embezzling money; They are preparing to restart their life together and overcome the main hurdle in their relationship which is Emily's crippling depression and in one amazing scene, her surprising suicidal tendencies. She meets British psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Banks play outstandingly by Jude Law and begins working her way through a number of anti depressant and sleeping pills at his behest which will have disastrous consequences for Emily and her husband, but ultimately for Dr. Banks.
To say much more about the way Side Effects continually shifts focus with its often contrived but sheer and supremely entertaining script would be a serious disservice to the last jolt from one of the most intelligent chameleon directors in film history. The director, editor and cinematographer (often working under the pseudonym: Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard) weaves a story infused with elements of classic psychohorror films from Rosemary's Baby and Fatal Attraction along with the panic of his most recent other collaboration with Contagion writer Scott Z Burns.
A film which may annoy some views by never fully committing to one story but it can't be denied that Side Effects is a wildly entertaining, sharply acted cap on a fantastic run from Soderbergh. Lets see how long the notoriously obsessive work-a-holic can stay away from the camera for. I hope he's got his meds.
