Sex, Lies, And Videotape (Movie Review: Side Effects)

"Side Effect" is a wonderful,hold-on-to-your-popcorn psychological drama/thriller. Once in a while - oftentimes - I get asked by people of recent movies to recommend, and this film would be one I heartily endorse. It is a movie that kept me guessing till the last frame, it set out one movie, continued to be a different one, and ended with a even different one. I don't remember why I did not see this at the cinemas, but I now kind of regret that I did not experience this in the big screen. It is also one of those "New York" kind of movies - it looks, feels, and even smells like the city. Jude Law is fantastic here. You would kind of say that he is the sick moral center of the piece. (Remember when he was supposed to be the next big thing that never was? I hope this film puts him back on that track) Rooney Mara matches him scene by scene - you vacillate between looking at her as a victim, heroine, and villain. I did not see those Dragon tattoo movies, so it is my first experience seeing her - she's a star, and a great actor. Sure, the story line can sometimes veer into the unbelievable, but the actors are pros, and you truly believe. Catherine Zeta Jones and Channing Tatum are given roles that they have done before, and they are competent enough here to still give focused performances. Can this really be Stephen Soderbergh's last effort? Together with "Behind The Candelabra," he would be leaving with two gay-centric films, if truly that's the case. And I just find it very fitting that the last eighth of this film revolved around sex, lies, and videotape, which of course, what brought him to the fore.