Movie Review: Side Effects

Side Effects stars Jude Law, Channing Tatum, Rooney Mara, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in a pharmaceutical thriller. Don't expect big things from this movie, but there are more twists and turns than a doctor's scribbled handwriting on a prescription. Channing is newly released from prison for insider trading. His wife, Rooney, suffers from depression. She is assigned Jude Law as her psychiatrist after she tried to drive her BMW into a wall. Is she suicidal? Can Jude help her and what did her previous doctor, Zeta-Jones, do for her.

Rooney Mara, in her teeny body with her large expressive eyes, seems to be a nutcase and grows more so as she's prescribed new meds. She can't focus at work, she can't sleep, or sleeps too hard and is up sleepwalking, sleep cooking, and yes..........sleep killing!!!! Who's responsible? Rooney, Dr.Jude Law, or the drug makers themselves? Suddenly, Jude Law finds himself having to defend his practice.

This is not just a movie about the evil drug companies. A large proportion of society takes anxiety medicine and there are huge dollar sums involved. Side Effects gets rather convoluted as it guides us along the trail of murder and money. For this time of year (often a dumping ground for stinkers), the movie is entertaining and has a great cast. I was suprised at various times, and wondered if I needed meds to figure things out. In the end, probably better to stick with popcorn.


Netflix Queue:

Ruby Sparks - a writer needs to conquer writers' block. But when he jots down the attributes of his dream girl, she comes alive.Things get weird as he tries to duplicate his early successes as a writer. This movie is quirky and amusing. It stars Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Elliott Gould, and Annette Bening

Undefeated - this Academy Award winning documentary is quite impressive. A white coach volunteers to lead a West Memphis high school football team that has never gone to a playoff game. We meet him as he starts to work with a group of eighth graders and manages to keep them in school on into high school. These are very poor young black men without fathers who are on a path to failure. However, football is their lifeline and this exemplary coach loves them, guides them, yells at them, and uses terms like character and team. It is quite a tale and you'll root for the Manasas Tigers to win.