Turn-of-the-century kink reaches anticlimax decades later. I watched the film on New Years Eve before it left Netflix. Delightfully, it is a Christmas movie by 'Die Hard' rules. The film shows some wonderfully composed shots from the watchmaker Kubrick, but suffers from poor acting by its stars.
Kidman falls flat while Cruise flits between suave and morose. The two combine to create awkward interpersonal scenes that the movie asks us to overlook. The nudity is tame today and the sex is oddly stilted, but surely stirred in 1999. In one scene Cruise's character observes two naked women eat each other out on a pool table, a superficially arousing sight – except that both women wear masks, so what are we seeing? Taken with scenes of Kidman and Cruise's remarkable lack of chemistry, the movie presents an antiseptic libido in marriage and in kink.
The sex cult, while not the point despite what any marketing copy may have said, limply exits the film in a forgettable scene of dialogue between Cruise's character and his wealthy buddy.
Conceptually, the movie works, but without strong leads, the movie lacks any verve. An intricate watch that ticks.
Rated: liked.