An effective plot, great acting and smooth direction help Steven Soderbergh deliver the first great film of 2013 with “Side Effects.”
Commercials advertising new prescription drugs often spend more time detailing side effects than benefits — often to the point of unintentional hilarity. “Side Effects” is about that concept, except it’s not all that funny here.
The first shot of the film is of an apartment. The camera slowly pans into the room down to blood on the floor before flashing back to three months.
A woman (Rooney Mara, “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”) is having a trouble readjusting to her life just as her husband (Channing Tatum, “Magic Mike”) gets released from prison after four years for insider trading. After a particular incident she winds up seeing a therapist (Jude Law, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”) who prescribes her an experimental drug. Things seemingly take a turn for the better but, of course, the pill has its share of side effects.
And it’s at that point where “Side Effects” is truly engaging. The movie manages to work as effective commentary on the pharmaceutical industry while delivering its own twisting tale.
“Side Effects” is a movie that requires, as what seems to be a throwaway line one minute becomes a lot more important later in the film. It might be a little difficult to attach to the story due to its indifferent tone in the first act (an effective timbre), but soon afterwards it becomes easier to warm up to the characters. Credit goes to all four leads, including Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Broken City”), for turning in such strong performances.
If “Side Effects” has any fault it’s that the third act stretches — though looking back it’s hard to see where they should have trimmed a scene out.
Image courtesy of Endgame Entertainment
