Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Forget about 'Contagion' (which was entirely mediocre anyway) and even put aside 'Flatliners', trust in Steven Soderbergh to get the job done right (on his second attempt...). An entirely gripping, captivating and twisted plot that might just be his career best. A young woman, who's husband has just been released from prison, is prescribed a drug to cure her depression, but with unexpected side effects. Since its release, this has always been in the top echelon of thrillers in my opinion. Sure, the narrative slowly becomes convoluted and frequently drifts away from the prescription drug problem that it illustrates. However, it never fails to hypnotise me. A provocatively shot underrated gem that deftly balances its jeopardising characters that strangely feel both likeable and despised simultaneously. The screenplay is confidently written to make you doubt yourself, you think you've got one character sussed only for the story to then take a sharp turn in the opposite direction. It's almost Hitchcock-like, which to me is an admirable inspiration and one most thrillers should take notes from. Jude Law and Rooney Mara must be praised for their natural ability to entrance me. Much like medicine, I became dependant on them at delivering the story and they did so with ease. Newman's composition suited the clinical environment and surprisingly had me on edge even more. Soderbergh's direction and cinematography was sumptuous, loved how the background and foreground were always blurred and only the character speaking was in focus. A fantastic method to engage the viewer and ensure they are paying attention. Safe to say his experience paid off dearly. As I said, the plot does become slightly convoluted during the third act and plot holes do crop up occasionally. Yet, it's very rare for a thriller to consistently keep me engaged and for that I have to applaud Side Effects. A film that I will frequently revisit on an annual basis.

If this film is essentially about Dr Banks' loss of control and whether he can regain it, then the film fails because he never really seriously loses control.To care about whether Dr Banks can regain control, I needed to see and really feel that he'd lost control, but I never did. I'm not sure if this is down to the script, the direction or Jude Law's performance; but the whole film is rather unaffecting, so it seems to be more of a systemic issue (e.g. script and/or direction).Overall, things felt rather pre-ordained, as if each character was simply doing what was necessary to move the plot along to the required conclusion.

I didn't know when I first started watching this that it would leave me scratching my head over the scenes from the first half of the film. The twist in the movie was not at all predictable and hits you like a train. I was happily surprised by the way the plot played out. What started out as a movie about drugs and their effects on the mind and court hearings, (all a bit drab to tell you the truth), ended up with me increasing the volume and repeating scenes to make sure I hadn't missed anything, even a bit of dialogue. A good smart film, with good writing. Decent acting by Jude Law damn, Rooney Mara has once again proved she can keep her worth. Take my advice, sit up straight and watch this movie exactly when you think you are losing interest.

"Side Effects." A depressed woman sees a psychiatrist, is given a new drug, murders her husband while in an apparent trance, and finds herself alone in a heap of trouble.I don't know if that sounds promising to you but it sounded like an onrushing express train of clichés to me. The poor woman, helpless and screaming, booted around and dragged through an indifferent court and a vicious mental hospital. Nobody to turn to. Screams, tears, condemnations, vilification by the press and former friends until -- at last -- a friendly face turns up, an understanding man of some repute and authority, preferably handsome and rich, and then -- Sob.It's not like that at all. I was only able to catch about twenty minutes of it but anyone thinking of watching it should not expect a Lifetime Movie or a typical woman-in-jep story. I won't get into the plot further because it gets tricky.Rooney Mara doesn't inspire confidence at first glance. In the excerpts I saw, she seems stuck in a single groove -- the sullen victim. Yet, when the occasion permitted, she lightened like an incandescent bulb and got the point of the scene across with minimal effort -- a keen comment or a knowing smile.The movie depends on her but she gets good support from Catherine Zeta-Jones as a voluptuous psychiatrist on whom one would like to practice transference to its fullest extent, and from Channing Tatum as the perplexed husband.I avoided it for months on television. Now I'll look forward to viewing it intact.