Side Effects

Steven Soderbergh—the 50-year-old director who helmed Magic Mike, Contagion, Che, Traffic, The Informant, and the Ocean's Eleven trilogy, among other films—has announced that he is retiring from making movies. Unfortunately, this creepy psycho-thriller isn't one of his best. When Wall Street broker Martin Taylor (Channing Tatum) is released from prison after a four-year sentence for insider trading, his loyal wife, Emily (Rooney Mara), and devoted mother (Ann Dowd) greet him with open arms. But it quickly becomes apparent that wan, tearful Emily is suffering from depression: she yearns for the pampered, privileged life they once led in Greenwich, CT, where—even then—she sought psychiatric help from Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones). After deliberately driving her BMW into the wall of a Manhattan parking garage, distraught Emily is seen in the hospital by empathetic Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), who prescribes Ablixa, an anti-depressant meant to ward off any future suicide attempts. But Emily's fragile mental/emotional condition only worsens. And there are side effects, such as sleepwalking. Something terrible happens, but is it the drug's fault? Side Effects raises serious questions about medical ethics involving pernicious payoffs by pharmaceutical companies to physicians who are amenable to satisfying their pill-popping patients. But the film strains credulity as double crosses, triple crosses, and ulterior motives surface and the plot abruptly shifts gears, turning into a lurid, farfetched murder mystery. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette (3 min.), an interactive “Ablixa Website Experience” with a quiz from costar Jude Law, two brief fictional commercials, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus, DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)