Side Effects



With Side Effects, the prolific auteur and indie-film vanguard Steven Soderbergh has announced that he is retiring from directing feature films, capping one of the most versatile and original filmographies ever seen from an independent filmmaker, who managed to eke out an existence within the studio system that mostly afforded him complete artistic control over his films.  That's not to say all of his films are great.  Rather, he was that rare bird in Hollywood, always smarter than his material, and aware that sometimes one has to do the dance in order to do what you really want.  Like John Sayles before him, who would use the money he made script doctoring studio pablum to fund his more personal projects, Soderbergh wallowed in dreck like Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, but then turned around and made a black-and-white nod to German expressionism, and a five-hour biopic of Che Guevera, in the controversial figure's native language no less, and a documentary about Spalding Gray.  Yes, the man who directed twenty-eight motion pictures in only twenty-four years, including several episodes of television drams, is apparently folding up his director's chair, and with Side Effects, his new thriller set against the world of prescription medication, he goes out on top, crafting the very best out of all twenty-eight, and in this critic's eyes, even besting Traffic, his 2000 moment of Oscar glory.

Side Effects is more rewarding the less known about it, insofar as its narrative continues to evolve, focusing on different characters, and different ideas of what it might be about, all which become seamlessly interwoven.  Basically, at the point which we are introduced to the characters, Martin Taylor (Channing Tatum) is being released from prison for insider trading, with his wife Emily (Rooney Mara) and mother (Ann Dowd) anxiously awaiting a return to the life they used to have.  But not too long after his release Emily tries to commit suicide by driving her car head-on into a cement wall, and it is soon revealed that after Martin's imprisonment, issues of depression began to surface, inspiring periods of heavy medication.  She meets Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) while in the hospital, and becomes his patient, allowing him to prescribe for her different types of medication to find the one that works best for her.  They finally settle on Ablixa, which unbeknownst to them has the unfortunate side effect of sleepwalking, and everyone's life soon gets turned upside-down, including Dr. Banks's, whose ethics and judgment as a doctor begin to come under the microscope, when after one such sleepwalking episode Emily fatally stabs Martin.

The beauty of this film is in how many different thematic strands it is able to juggle at once.  It begins as a thriller about an ex-con who might be getting back into a life of crime.  It then becomes a film about depression, and the potential addictive nature of pharmaceuticals.  It then becomes a cautionary tale about the power and greed, and far-reaching influence of the pharmaceutical industry, in a similar vein to Soderbergh's own Contagion from a few years ago.  And it then becomes a mystery/thriller, but I won't mention any specifics about that.  Ordinarily I might criticize such a film for biting off more than it can chew, tackling one too many issues that pull the film in too many directions to care about any one.  But Soderbergh, and everyone else involved quite easily prove that it doesn't have to go that way.  Writer Scott Z. Burns, who unfortunately succumbed to this problem with Contagion, grafting human emotion onto a far-fetched scenario of a widespread outbreak, succeeds marvelously here because rather than trying to find the personal commentary within a national emergency, he instead begins with the personal, a woman grappling with depression, and then colors the drama with broader strokes of greater significance.  Soderbergh proves a master of suspense, to such great extent that it is regrettable he didn't explore genre films more through his career, as here he finds a perfect rhythm to scenes that very easily could have favored one storyline, or underrepresented another.  It is worth noting that Soderbergh edited the film himself, under the alias of Mary Ann Bernard, which is his mother's name.  Soderbergh also demonstrates a flair for visual motif, perhaps borrowing a few tricks from Hitchcock, the master himself, by manipulating the film's actual focus, or rather, by not adjusting it.  Characters move into and out of focus within the same shot as they walk toward or away from the camera.  First this is used with Emily, becoming a metaphor for her drastic mood changes, where bouts of sadness seem to come from out of nowhere, and later becoming a metaphor for a potential lack of clarity about something from her past, and gradually, as the film opens itself to the other characters, they are also shot this way, especially when patients and partners begin to turn on Dr. Banks, and his motivations suddenly become not so crystal clear.  Normally, rack focus would avoid this, as is done invisibly in most Hollywood films; when it is not done it begs the question why.  Shot also by Soderbergh himself, under the alias of Peter Andrews, his father's name, Side Effects is ultimately the work of someone in complete control artistically and technically, and one of the very few remaining auteurs working in Hollywood.  To take on so many roles and responsibilities behind the camera, with a film that is to be released wide across the country, filmmaking has to be in your blood, and the collection of scenes that make up Side Effects unfold like second nature.

One final, and no less important reason for the film's success, is Rooney Mara.  After spending five years on various television projects and minor films, Mara burst onto the global stage in 2010 with a starring role in The Nightmare On Elm Street remake, and a minor role in The Social Network, as Mark Zuckerberg's "Rosebud," the girl for whose affections he still craved even after becoming the king of the world.  Following that came an iconic turn as Lisbeth Salander in Fincher's remake of The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo, which is now becoming a franchise of its own.  And already now she is in the midst of filming suddenly prolific Terrence Malick's new untitled project.  Mara is a revelation in Side Effects.  The character of Emily is a very deliberate one, and Mara possesses the uncanny ability to turn her emotions on a dime, restraining the conflicts within herself without losing them completely, and then releasing them when they are called upon later.  The real beauty in her performance is in how she embodies Emily's trajectory throughout the film, that left me with the inabilty to imagine any other actress in the role.  That's the sign of a great performance, and Mara is largely responsible for elevating this film to five stars.  Even if you happen to figure out where the film is going, she digs so deep into Emily that you go along for the ride anway, quite happily. 

I loved Side Effects.  It is a generic, run-of-the-mill mystery at its foundation, but Soderbergh, Burns, and the entire cast and crew of Soderberghs have gone so far beyond the film's genre trappings, and have crafted a true work of art.  People have been calling the film a minor effort from Soderbergh, good but not great.  I urge them to take a second look.  Genre films are engrained in our collective psyches as audiences.  They are fantastic forums for filmmakers to take something people have seen a thousand times and make them fresh, as if their stories are being told for the very first time.  For me they are the greatest form of escape from the more rigorous, challenging art films that usually adorn my annual top ten lists.  Most genre films today are content to merely get by, and get your money.  Particular attention should be paid, however, to a flawless example of one.  In many ways they are the hardest form of film to create, as one scene out of place, or a slight interruption in rhythm could severely affect audience involvment.  Side Effects is that rare example, and will stand up to repeat viewings for as long as it takes for Soderbergh's next career evolution to reveal itself.

***** out of *****