Side Effects - Mind Games

Entering the cinema last night I was brimming with excitement after all the positive buzz surrounding Steven Soderbergh's latest film. Having recently declared that Side Effects would be his final film, I was intrigued as to whether Soderbergh would be exiting the world of celuloid with a bang or with a whimper. I am happy to declare that he indeed does bow out with an impressive bang; a deeply taut, complex and engaging psychological thriller that will leave you wanting to camp out on Soderbergh's lawn and handcuff him to the director's chair he is choosing to leave behind.
(Soderbergh, left)

Pitched as a Hitchockian psychological thriller, the film sees Jude Law as a Brit psychiatrist practicing in New York who begins to treat patient Rooney Mara after an apparent suicide attempt. A woman with a history of depression coupled with a husband recently released from prison ('portrayed' by the ever-bemused looking Channing Tatum), Law's character Jonathan Banks insists that Mara (Emily) becomes his patient and sees him for regular therapy. After a series of treatments seem to draw blanks, Banks prescribes Emily with Ablixer, a new experimental drug recently on the market. Initially all seems to be going well until Emily starts to experience side effects that have repercussions for all connected to her. What follows is a tight, compact and exciting game of psychological mind-play. Filled with more twists and turns than a pirrouetting contortionist, we are plunged into a suspenseful, satiric and thought-provoking look at the faith we place in doctors, the role of pharmaceutical companies, and the nature of psychology and what a dangerous thing it can be.

Jude Law excels as Banks, the seemingly unflappable doctor who finds himself in a pretty precarious situation being targeted from all sides. Law's roles have been a bit hit and miss lately but here he gives perhaps a career best, driving the narrative forward with charm and humility that makes you root for his character for the entire film. On the flip side to Law's charismatic and collected Banks, we have Mara's portrayal of Emily, the seemingly depressed and unbalanced city worker who puts Banks through his paces. More complex than Law's character, from the outset, Emily is a character the audience cannot relax with and can move from one extreme emotion to the other with startling rapidity. Mara does this frighteningly well, able to convey through a sublime performance a deeply complex and intriguing woman at the epicentre of extremely dangerous events.

Support in the cast comes from Catherine Zeta-Jones, who portrays Dr. Victoria Siebert, Emily's former psychiatrist, in what is a thoroughly chilling performance. It is also nice to see Vinessa Shaw of Hocus Pocus and Eyes Wide Shut fame, as Law's wife. The theatrical poster for the movie would appear to think the film as an ensemble of four: Law, Mara, Zeta-Jones and Tatum. However, it really is about the first three guys who all turn in brilliant performances. Unless a live-action version of Toy Story is in the works and the part of Mr. Potato Head up for grabs, I really think Channing Tatum will forever be searching for his ideal role.

If this really is to be Steven Soderbergh's last film then it's a bitter-sweet affair. Bitter in the sense that a director who has delivered some great films is putting away his clapperboard. However, sweet in the sense that perhaps he has had the courage to do what others have done and let their work gradually decline. What Soderbergh has done instead is deliver a gripping, intelligent and powerful film that a director can be proud of as their swansong.