In Side Effects, Emily (Rooney
Mara) weds a rich businessman Martin
(Channing Tatum), only for him to be convicted a few
weeks into their marriage. During and after Martin's time in prison, Emily experiences severe depression and attempts her own suicide. Prescribed experimental antidepressants by her therapist (Jude Law),
Emily begins to experience strange side effects such as sleepwalking which start ruining the lives of everyone involved.
Before it's release,
I was geared up for Side Effects to be a typical
Soderbergh tour-de-force, taking me on an emotionally draining
experience, such as those found in his previous films
Contagion and Traffic. But instead I was shown a film in two halves. The first is an edgy
and intriguing drama about one woman's descent into drug dependence. However there is a drastic change halfway
through and the film never really recovers, declining into a
cheesy and schlocky melodrama. An admirable attempt but an ultimate failure.
There are some noteworthy performances, such as Tatum and Mara, but their earnest
roles are overshadowed by hammy Jude Law and the overblown and
unbelievable rival therapist Catherine
Zeta-Jones, highlighting the differences in the film's two tones.
Side Effects on a whole still has it's moments; Soderbergh's kinetic style of direction, Thomas Newman's haunting score and the film's cinematography are beautiful, gradually draining the colour of out of
the scenes as the plot unravels and begins it's slow decline. I'd
gladly recommend the first half of the film to anyone, and I'm sure
that most viewers will still be invested in both halves of the film. However I was just not one of them.
Rating - 6/10
