STEVEN SODERBERGH'S 'SIDE EFFECTS'

Writing by Federico M. Bones

Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Side Effects’: A cobweb of intrigue and conspiracy that will make you wonder

Be careful what you wish for…

Steven Soderbergh, that chameleon of a director, is quite a unique man. Last year his film ‘Magic Mike’ was released (premiered a couple of months ago here) and, on seeing its trailer, I ended up confused. Wasn’t he the man behind the ‘Ocean’s’ saga? Weren’t those films more ‘crime’ or ‘thriller’ than ‘silly comedy of sexy male strippers doin’ their thing on screen’? Wait a second, wasn’t he behind ‘Erin Brockovich’ too? And wasn’t this one a ‘drama’ about a single mother? Yes, and it’s the same Steven Soderbergh doing all of them. Isn’t it great to be able to make films whose depths range from puddle to ocean trough?

Now, ‘Magic Mike’ was not at all engaging to me. Not, at least, if I had to pay a considerable amount of money to see it at my usual cinema.

When I saw the poster of ‘Side Effects’ on the mentioned cinema’s loitering lounge (the reddened faces of one actress I admire, two I modestly like and one that, to me, is neither fish nor fowl), I was immediately hooked. ‘What,’ thought I, ‘can that film possibly be about? I’ll check out later.’

I googled the film, clicked the IMDb entry and read the plot. Then, with a sense of dissatisfaction at the meagre sentences, I went to the credits section just below. SURPRISE! Steve again in the director chair. ‘Well,’ I thought, ‘I must give it a try.’

Then I lost track.

When my best friend (she keeps appearing, you see?) asked me to the cinema last week, and suggested ‘Efectos colaterales,’ I was like ‘I f**king do!!’

Needless to say I replied with a much more suitable ‘I really wanted to see that film, I’m definitely going.’ I just got it.

Worth it or not, here I come

Needless to say, I enjoyed the film very much – even though it’s not very advisable for me at the moment.

Simply put, the film tells the story of a Martin Taylor (Channing Tatum), a financial criminal just released from prison and his depressive wife Emily (Rooney Mara), who tries to commit suicide and is taken to hospital. There she meets Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) who agrees to release her after she’s promised she’ll attend regular sessions with him. Problem is: the drugs he prescribes don’t seem to work, and he decides to talk to Emily’s previous psychiatrist – Dr. Victoria Siebert – who suggests using new and popular antidepressant ‘Ablixa.’

Ablixa, one of whose side effects is sleepwalking, will cause an unexpected turn in the story and reveal a perverse network of conspiracy and lies.

I really appreciate films that are so engagingly narrated. As a budding writer myself, I somehow envy some writers’ ability to perform gradual disclosures of information that reveal just as much as they want, as little as we need (and enough) for us to discover the truth with the characters.

Having said that, I must say that the intricacy of the plot sometimes renders the film difficult to follow (confession of a filmaholic: I had to Google the whole plot afterwards to fully understand how the story goes.)

Warning! Proceed with caution: Spoilers ahead

I also feel it’s fair to give well-deserved praise to the four main actors (especially three of them.)

Rooney Mara proves to be an excellent actress. Her character is an alleged depressive patient who seems to find no pleasure in life. At times I felt that her acting was weak. Having witnessed depression first-hand, I didn’t believe her very much (somewhat lame gestures, a. (WATCH OUT!) Now, it turns out that actually Emily’s not depressive, she’s faking it all. Aha! So she’s a person pretending to be depressive, the character is acting depression out. (We learn she’s been trained as regards the condition.) My point is: Mara is an actress playing a non-actress acting out a (very well-rehearsed) role. Under that light, Mara’s performance is marvellous. She is hinting that depression is hard to fake.

CZJ (my acronym for Zeta-Jones) also excels. Her uptight, nonchalant, I-listen-but-don’t-get-involved attitude is plain convincing. She is a perfect professional. We actually get to see her in lesbian scenes and oh, how good she is! I (sometimes too prudish) blushed a little, then wondered whether CZJ might not be a lesbian herself. It’s just too good! Maybe it’s the effect of seeing her most stoic side throughout and the diametrical opposite at that moment, but I can assure you she’s a downright dyke.

As for the male half, they’re good enough. They’re up to the film’s standards, especially Jude Law, as Tatum’s character (WATCH OUT!) dies not long after the film’s beginning. I appreciate Law, but more as the Casanova than the actor (‘Alfie’ was the role for him.) He’s good, he truly is. But with him it’s more about the looks than the acting. And Tatum, well… He’s good too, but he has a sexy, badass attitude in every role I’ve seen and he can’t seem to shake it off. It’s true actors have to get into the character without losing their identity, but with him it’s kind of the same character doing different things each time. He walks the same way whether he’s a stripper, a soldier or an entrepreneur. He could do much better, yet he has that something you can’t but enjoy.

In the end

All in all, I think this is a very entertaining film. The characters’ stories are entertaining, but the underlying criticism is really interesting to think about.

Soderbergh seems to be criticising his society: a anesthetized society, a society that needs happy pill(s). It criticises not only society but also doctors, who sometimes undertake bigger workload than they can responsibly keep up to. And last, but definitely not least (and perhaps most importantly), it criticises the pharmaceutical industry – ever caring more about the money it can make than about actual well-being of the consumers. In a sense, I feel one of its aims is to create a pharm fear fever and make patients (ironic, right? Patients suffer from anxiety) stop taking their pills.

The goal is huge, and if you take it absolutely for real you would probably have to go to the countryside and start a new lifestyle taking a different herb for every uncomfortable symptom.

Between the ‘I take no pills whatsoever’ and the ‘I’ll take anything they give me’ extremes, there’s a long, long way. A way that demands walking instead of running; a way that along which we have to stop more than once; a way with ups and downs; a way only one person can walk: each of us.

Oh! Almost forgot. The side effects allude in the title, of course, don't come from pills only. Watch out!