Side Effects

Great movie, saw it in the theater originally. Keeps you guessing with twists and turns as to motive and involvement of the characters in their respective roles. Great suspenseful drama, would recommend you give it a look.

Movie deserves 5 stars time two, if possible. Why? Let me explain.The Insider - Russell Crowe had a fit of anger & throws a ash tray at a hotel employees, hmm the Tobacco lobbyist are everywhere including movies in a subliminal way, they simply don't want the truth about smoking cigarettes kills 443,000 Americans every year.Red Corner - Richard Gere & Bai Ling. Both excellent acting careers, I suppose they both annoyed China's PLA strong arm of their PR division. They "outed Richard Richard Gere for being different." His reply was so what, I'll travel to Tibet & joined the "Free Tibet movement" I'm sure the PLA wasn't expecting his "try me" along w/ the one two punch of China's persecution of Tibetan monks & Dalia Lama....Bai Ling? Knowing visit Shandong Province in China, watched her like a hawk to the point she had urges to shop lift 15 bucks worth from a store?Lord of War - Nicholas Cage received the amnesty International award for the acting role of a dramatized yet true to life gun runner. The NRA, had their "scope" on him.... appeared to be indifferent to his cause & had tipped the LAPD for arguing w/ his wife & was charged for "public drunkenness" Suppose the NRA didn't like his donation of $2 million to provide shelters, medical and psychological rehabilitation for child soldiers in ruined countries.Side Effects - Jude Law plays a role precisely as a Psychiatrist when his practice is to counsel and prescribe medications only to find he was merely a pawn taking the money to have trial runs on medication the FDA never approved, but played the role of exposing the dangerous game of exposing the pharmaceutical Industry. I'm sure he has made enemies in the pharma industry. I hope the FDA tightens their grip on the pharma industry, this movie is very close to reality.This movie doesn't deserve 5 stars but 10 because it's all about drugs & derivatives.

This review contains no specific descriptions of plot events. I saw this in the theater so my review will not include an analysis of the Bluray/DVD technical aspects- the picture quality or sound quality. This review is only an "IMO" review of the theatrical film itself. Coming from Soderbergh, who's stuff is usually different from most mainstream cinema, "Side effects" was about what I expected, but more twisted. There's always something in his films that pique my interest. "Side effects" drew me in and then had me going from being into it to not being into it at various points. I found the film was engaging in spite of some inconsistencies. I also liked Rooney Mara in this, very good performance. Coming from Soderbergh, the use of digital photography, amber hues, and an image that sometimes looks a little pasty on screen was no surprise either.As "Side effects" moves along, the plot goes a bit haywire. I still think it's a movie that is well worthwhile, but it feels more like Soderbergh's political statement on the pharmaceutical industry and Wall Street/insider trading, which is fine by me, but the audience side of the equation could have been better judged. The basic idea itself is not so absurd, but is certainly carried over the top. I don't know, maybe he wants that question to be asked, how sensationalist is this? Severe drug side effects, to include bizarre behavior have been documented, and is anyone going to prove there is no unethical money made on what Wall street, the government, doctor's, and drug companies do lol. Maybe there's a deeper irony at work here. The films main weakness is the plot trips up in technical details- which Soderbergh usually pays more attention to. The plot discrepancies reduce the impact of the film as it morphs between its pharmaceutical side effect theme and its insider trading theme. It sometimes comes across as farcical- but it is no more absurd than what we see in the real world- The railroading of drugs onto the market, enthusiastic dispensal by doctors, the astronomical profits of drug companies; and the money wall street, and people on Capitol hill get on insider trading."Side effects" is on the extreme side, is deliberately paced (which anyone familiar with a lot of his stuff won't be surprised at) and try's to cover too much ground as it draws to its conclusion. The acceleration of events- from the slow start to the final act might leave some viewers a little confused. I still liked it better than many other recent offerings. As "Psychological Thrillers" go, this one will keep you entertained and get you thinking. I liked the concept of "side effects", and it has the crazy ending of a thriller. It was one of those movies that does'nt quite reach its full potential, and ends up being 3 or 4 stars instead of 5. I give it 3.5 stars. I'd Recommend to people who like a cerebral thriller, and to fans of Rooney Mara.Update: I've since gotten the bluray version of this movie- and found both the sound and picture of the bluray transfer to be very good. Versus how I remember the film looking in the theater, things seem faithful to the color palette of Soderbergh, and everything is a little cleaner and clearer, so maybe they used some "DNR" in producing the bluray, but it is nothing unqualified, and in this case actually improves over what I saw in the theater.

Great movie, full of twists