By Philip RearichThere have been several people calling this the first “real” film of 2013, and I’d have to agree. Sure, some of the movies so far have been generic in their respective genres but they’ve been okay, but this is a Steven Soderbergh movie. This guy has been able to churn out so many movies every year that I’m surprised the guy hasn’t decided to call it quits (though he might be taking a “film sabbatical” from what I heard). I already said in my Texas Chainsaw 3D review (if you bothered to read the WHOLE thing since it was really long) that there was no better way to ring in the new year than with a chainsaw; with Steven Soderbergh, there’s no better way to ring in the new year, albeit a bit late, than with a psychological thriller like Side Effects. Fun fact: the movie’s original title was meant to be The Bitter Pill, which would’ve made the movie seem different than it actually is; Side Effects is more of a fitting title of the kind of movie this is.
The cast of this film are great and the story is good, but what really drew me to this film and has become my most favorite element of the film is Rooney Mara. She is, without a doubt, my favorite actress of all time. She has this way of portraying these outsider-type characters to various extents in the stuff I’ve seen her in. In the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, as Nancy Holbrook, she was this shy, artistic, lonely, kinda monotonous yet nice girl who sort of stood on the sidelines and decided to fight back after being pushed against the wall. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as Lisbeth Salander, she was a force of nature, a person who you do not want to mess with and if you do, you will certainly pay for it, maybe even with your life, she was smart (BIG understatement), always commanding in any situation, makes no compromises, attractive, sociopathic, and a good person underneath it all. In this movie, as Emily Taylor, it’s a different story. She comes off as being this pleasant girl dealing with troubles and can’t take it anymore, trying to do anything to deal with it. When attempts to do so don’t work and make things worse, she continues to look innocent. However, it becomes clear that near the end that she is a manipulative witch that did terrible things because she wanted to make those who took away her “happiness” (the wealth provided by her husband) pay, that being her husband, Martin, through whatever means possible and will work with those that will help her do it, as long as she helps them out as well, while also getting some “fun” out of it (hint: they involve some “intense” scenes with Catherine Zeta-Jones’s character; I think I’ve said too much [laughs]). But, like most femme fatales, she does end up getting her comeuppance as expected.
This movie definitely can do away with expectations. Initially, it’s believed that the whole movie would be about a woman suffering from emotional problems made worse by medications that were meant to help her. This would bring into question as to what is really to blame: the medications or the person. If it had gone with medications, the movie would have gone into a different direction and have a somewhat different theme than seen in the finished product. It would’ve gone into the theme of therapists being these lazy people who feel overworked and just simply tell their patients to take meds instead of doing other methods, bringing into question as to whether or not therapists are doing their job or not because of the disastrous results their methods have brought on and if they should continue trying to solve their patients’ problems or just simply give up. That’s what this movie seemed to do throughout most of it.
Instead, the rest of the film reveals that it’s really the person. Emily was only pretending to be distraught and sought help. She would pretend even further that the meds either work or don’t work for her and that anything bad done by her can be blamed on either the meds or her therapist, all while backed up by her co-hort, Dr. Siebert, just so they can profit off their situation and having a relationship in the process. However, their plans are derailed in the form of Dr. Banks, whose life has been messed up by these two but manages to beat them at their own game, getting his life back as a result. While this does seem something that’s been done before, and it probably has, it does pay off rather well. It can be compared to Hitchcockian works, having this air of suspense, keeping the audience guessing as to what’s really going on, and ultimately ending on a high note with everything somewhat resolved.
Side Effects does away with all expectations. It manages to have, I guess, some, if not a lot, of scientifically-accurate elements, much like Soderbergh’s 2011 film Contagion. In this film’s case, it’s regarding meds, therapy, circumstances regarding them, and the minds and mannerisms of people. But really, it just goes to show to beware of people who are faking being crazy, because they may be worse than what they pretend to be.
The cast of this film are great and the story is good, but what really drew me to this film and has become my most favorite element of the film is Rooney Mara. She is, without a doubt, my favorite actress of all time. She has this way of portraying these outsider-type characters to various extents in the stuff I’ve seen her in. In the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, as Nancy Holbrook, she was this shy, artistic, lonely, kinda monotonous yet nice girl who sort of stood on the sidelines and decided to fight back after being pushed against the wall. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as Lisbeth Salander, she was a force of nature, a person who you do not want to mess with and if you do, you will certainly pay for it, maybe even with your life, she was smart (BIG understatement), always commanding in any situation, makes no compromises, attractive, sociopathic, and a good person underneath it all. In this movie, as Emily Taylor, it’s a different story. She comes off as being this pleasant girl dealing with troubles and can’t take it anymore, trying to do anything to deal with it. When attempts to do so don’t work and make things worse, she continues to look innocent. However, it becomes clear that near the end that she is a manipulative witch that did terrible things because she wanted to make those who took away her “happiness” (the wealth provided by her husband) pay, that being her husband, Martin, through whatever means possible and will work with those that will help her do it, as long as she helps them out as well, while also getting some “fun” out of it (hint: they involve some “intense” scenes with Catherine Zeta-Jones’s character; I think I’ve said too much [laughs]). But, like most femme fatales, she does end up getting her comeuppance as expected.
This movie definitely can do away with expectations. Initially, it’s believed that the whole movie would be about a woman suffering from emotional problems made worse by medications that were meant to help her. This would bring into question as to what is really to blame: the medications or the person. If it had gone with medications, the movie would have gone into a different direction and have a somewhat different theme than seen in the finished product. It would’ve gone into the theme of therapists being these lazy people who feel overworked and just simply tell their patients to take meds instead of doing other methods, bringing into question as to whether or not therapists are doing their job or not because of the disastrous results their methods have brought on and if they should continue trying to solve their patients’ problems or just simply give up. That’s what this movie seemed to do throughout most of it.
Instead, the rest of the film reveals that it’s really the person. Emily was only pretending to be distraught and sought help. She would pretend even further that the meds either work or don’t work for her and that anything bad done by her can be blamed on either the meds or her therapist, all while backed up by her co-hort, Dr. Siebert, just so they can profit off their situation and having a relationship in the process. However, their plans are derailed in the form of Dr. Banks, whose life has been messed up by these two but manages to beat them at their own game, getting his life back as a result. While this does seem something that’s been done before, and it probably has, it does pay off rather well. It can be compared to Hitchcockian works, having this air of suspense, keeping the audience guessing as to what’s really going on, and ultimately ending on a high note with everything somewhat resolved.
Side Effects does away with all expectations. It manages to have, I guess, some, if not a lot, of scientifically-accurate elements, much like Soderbergh’s 2011 film Contagion. In this film’s case, it’s regarding meds, therapy, circumstances regarding them, and the minds and mannerisms of people. But really, it just goes to show to beware of people who are faking being crazy, because they may be worse than what they pretend to be.
