Side Effects
Unlike a lot of recent thrillers (I'm looking at you, Broken City!), Side Effects is subtle, and not the least bit bombastic. It doesn't thrive on continuous plot twists that come one after another, there are no high speed car chases or shadowy characters lurking about the sides of the screen while the hero tries to put the pieces of the plot's puzzle together, and there are no real instances where we feel like the characters are doing something just to advance the plot along. The movie trusts its premise enough that it allows it to be chilling without the usual overdrawn thriller cliches. And it is chilling. As the title implies, the movie takes an honest look at our current drug culture, specifically the over-saturation of anti-depression and anti-anxiety drugs that are on the market, and how they are marketed to the public. From there, it evolves into the sort of murder mystery that Alfred Hitchcock might have made. The opening credits (featuring a camera making its way through a crime scene) hints at this, but it is none the less engaging when the narrative shifts gears.
The first part of the plot revolves around Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara), a young woman who nearly lost everything four years ago when her wealthy husband, Martin (Channing Tatum), was sent to prison for insider trading. Martin has now been released, and the two are trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and start anew. By all accounts, Emily has some supportive people in her life, including her boss at work. But, she has been overcome with depression lately over how her life with her husband is not the same luxurious one they once enjoyed, and the anxiety over whether things will ever be the same again. It all comes to a head when she attempts suicide by driving her car into a parking garage wall. This brings her to Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), a psychiatrist who often seems more interested in the money than in actually helping his patients when we first meet him. He's all about making deals with pharmaceutical companies, and participating in drug studies on his patients.
Jonathan does at least seem to sympathize with Emily and her situation. He even tracks down her former therapist whom she was seeing when her husband was initially arrested four years ago, Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and tries to learn more about her situation. Regardless, Jonathan ultimately puts Emily on an anti-depressant drug to help with the feelings she's been having. While taking the drug, Emily's behavior and mood does indeed improve, but it has the unwanted side effect of her walking in her sleep, and doing things while sleepwalking that she does not remember doing the next day. One of these blackout spells even leads to a murder, with Emily being the only suspect. As the media firestorm and eventual trial rolls out, Jonathan finds his practice under attack and questioned. His business and his personal life with his family suffers because of the scrutiny he finds himself under because of the murder case. This leads into the second half of the film, where Jonathan tries to clear his name, and figure out why certain pieces of the case just don't fit together.
Side Effects is engaging, because of the multiple fascinating topics it explores. These include the relationship between a doctor and their patients, and how a news story saturated by the 24-hour news media can effect the personal lives of people, as well as a major corporation. The film's low key and subtle approach helps with these themes, as it makes it seem more honest, rather than manipulative. Even the wonderful music score by Thomas Newman is subtle, enhancing the mood, rather than spelling it out for the audience. The quiet nature of the film was actually quite surprising to me. I kept on waiting for the film to drop some sensationalist plot bombshells. And while there are a few in the last 10 minutes or so when everything is revealed, the movie still plays these discoveries fairly low key, so that they don't seem out of place with the rest of the film. Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (Contagion) has thought his plot through well, and rewards us with genuine surprise, rather than bombastic plot twists that hit you over the head with their cleverness.
The performances are just as strong, with Rooney Mara being the main stand out as the frightened and confused Emily. A big turn around from her last major role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, here she has a difficult role that requires her to go through a range of emotions. She is successful at creating her character, and not going over the top. Channing Tatum (an actor who I initially dismissed, but has been growing on me in recent years) is also strong, and has become somewhat of a Soderbergh regular, appearing in his last few films. His performance here is subtle, and while he does not get much screen time, he is no less important to the overall plot. Jude Law has the challenging act of creating a somewhat arrogant character, without turning the audience off. He succeeds here. As his obsession with solving the mystery and saving his name grows, he oddly becomes more relatable, as the situation makes him more vulnerable. The only semi-weak link in the main cast would be Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is fine enough, but never really grabs our attention.
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