Side Effects (2013 movie)

Looks like they don't trust each other. 
Side Effects is a psychological thriller that in some ways reminds me of another one: Basic Instinct. 
The film stars Channing Tatum as Martin Taylor who prior the events of the movie had been sent to prison for inside trading. After being released he finds his wife, Emily (Rooney Mara) has developed psychological problems. To treat her her psychiatrist, Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), contacts Emily's previous doctor since Emily is not showing any recovery. That doctor, Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones), advises to administer Emily a new drug that apparently works with only sleepwalking episodes as side effects. One day, on arriving home Martin finds Emily sleepwalking again and when he tries to talk her out of that he stabs him. He dies as she quietly returns to bed.   
Of course there is more going on in this movie than meets the eye. The plot is very consistent and the acting performances are not disappointing either. It's not a family movie, but it has its moments. It is also a gaze into the problems of drugs and its effetcts if not administered properly though in the end you will find out that the title Side Effects is only that: a title. It could have easily been called something else. 
Three stars out of five.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How do you say MIRADOR in English?

Image
"Hmm, why do I have this nagging feeling that someone is watching me watching?" In Spanish, a MIRADOR is any place that allows a privileged view of the surroundings. In English, a MIRADOR is a VIEWPOINT or a LOOKOUT. Another possible translation is VANTAGE POINT, though in a tourist context this term is a bit less common.
Read more

How do you say EXAMEN SUPLETORIO in English?

Image
Darn! I wonder if there's a Make Up exam for this Make up exam! I remember that long ago I asked my distinguished and knowledgeable colleagues of that time to enlighten me and tell me the right English word for what we know in Ecuador as EXAMEN SUPLETORIO or EXAMEN DE RECUPERACION.  After hearing Recovery exam or Supplemenary test and even Supletory exam, I was not convinced so I decided to go to a higher authority and looked up one of those encyclopedic dictionaries from Oxford or Cambridge university (these were the pre-browser times) and found the right expression is MAKE UP EXAM which is taken when an exam has been missed or when a student needs to change one score with a more favorable one. The British say RECUPERATION EXAM which is perhaps more practical since to some people the term Make Up is confusing. Make-up is the word for the wearing of cosmetics. There are Make-up tests which are oriented to future Make-up artists.
Read more

The Maps of Ship-Trap Island

Image
Once I had my high school students read The Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell. Rainsford, the main character, is a professional hunter traveling by ship to his next hunting area, accidentally ends up in an island called Ship- Trap island. When he goes into the island he finds there are two men living in a palace in the island. One of them is a Cossack general and the other, his brutish servant.  The Cossack is called general Zaroff who is also  a game hunter but has become bored of hunting regular game and now uses the island's unique position to capture sailors from shipwrecks. He lets them go first and next after some time he hunts them down. Rainford's arrival who is worldwide famous presents Zaroff with a rare opportunity to find excitement in hunting again by hunting another hunter. Little does Zaroff know that Rainsford is The Most Dangerous Game in the World and hunting him will not be easy at all. My students enjoyed themselves at reading
Read more