Side Effects: Take two pills and call me in the morning. Steven Soderbergh’s latest prescription drug thriller stars Rooney Mara, Jude, Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Channing Tatum. Mara plays Emily Taylor, a young woman suffering from depression while her husband (Tatum) is in prison for insider trading. Upon his release she tries to get healthy by seeking out help from a psychiatrist (Law). This is a “thriller” not a “drama” so not everything is what it seems. Soderbergh opens up the twist early, which I found refreshing. This allowed the last 40 minutes of the movie to play out like a good detective story. In fact, I have not seen such good detective work done by a doctor since Harrison Ford in The Fugitive. While I did enjoy some of the twists, I unfortunately found the story implausible near the end. I am not sure the courts would allow Law’s character to keep treating a patient as the case was building against them. Jude Law gave worthy performance as did Rooney Mara (although I found her hair to be distractingly bad). The more leeway you give the script the more you will enjoy, for me it was not the perfect dose.
RyTheMovieGuy’s grade: 2.5 Jaws
If Side Effects had Parents, they would be: The Fugitive and Primal Fear
The pieces may not all come together to form an understandable flick, but this is a good slow-burner of a thriller in its own right, with an interesting set-up and a twist halfway in which will genuinely shock you. Good review Ry.
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