Review: Side Effects

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Jagged little pill.
Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) has had issues with depression before. She thinks it is all behind her. When her husband, Martin (Channing Tatum) is released from a four year prison sentence for insider trading, she hopes for the best. That doesn't happen, and one afternoon she purposely drives her car into a brick wall. A psychiatrist at the hospital, Dr. Banks (Jude Law) takes over her car and prescribes her a new drug called Ablixa. But it has some serious side effects, and Emily ends up taking someone's life while on this drug. Soon, Dr. Banks is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, but he starts to uncover secrets about this case.

Rooney Mara is a hell of an actress. I know I complained about her being over exposed during The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's run, but she really gives a great performance here. It's easy for actors playing characters with depression to just look like hollow zombies, but when we look at Rooney's Emily, hiding behind her hair in her face, we can tell there's something more. She switches quickly and convincingly between happy, sad, mad, confused. I thought this was a very accurate portrayal of someone with depression. Jude Law continues to impress me as well.

With Soderbergh's last film, Magic Mike, there were mountains of problems and awkward shots. That's not the case here. Side Effects keeps you guessing and ends up in territory you weren't expecting. If this truly is Soderbergh's last film as a director, at least he ended it on a good note.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "I loved everything about him." - Emily (Rooney Mara)

Comments

  1. s.February 19, 2013 at 10:50 AM

    Glad to read you liked this one and not Magic Mike, I wasn't crazy about MM but I'm definitely looking forward to Side Effects.

    ReplyDelete
  2. s.February 19, 2013 at 10:53 AM

    I wasn't fond of Magic Mike either so I'm glad you liked this one considering you didn't like MM - I'm looking forward to Side Effects, mostly because of Mara.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ruthFebruary 19, 2013 at 5:19 PM

    I wasn't fond of Magic Mike but not too crazy about this one either. It's just ok, I gave it a 3/5 because though technically it's excellent, it just leaves me cold. I'm not all that sad he's gonna retire, to be honest.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 19, 2013 at 11:29 PM

    I am really intrigued with the way you described Mara's portrayal of depression. I hope to see this soon.

    ReplyDelete

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