If Side Effects, an immensely pleasurable thriller revolving around psychotropic drugs, really is Steven Soderbergh's final big-screen film, as the director claims it will be, then he has peaked in the Valley of the Dolls. Scripted by Scott Z. Burns, who also wrote the screenplay for Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), Side Effects shares, at least at first, the earlier movie's icy fury over the corruption of the medical profession. Psychiatrists dispense SSRIs and SNRIs like Pez candies and are wooed by Big Pharma reps over lunch at Le Cirque. Yet when this initially pointed critique of our quick-fix, highly medicated era becomes, in its final third, a twisty genre exercise filled with double-crosses, blouses ripped in the heat of passion and hidden microphones it doesn't lessen the movie's punch. Side Effects is not, in the words of one uncharitable viewer I overheard after a press screening, "a Lifetime movie." This plot-packed last act further highlights our venal age and is performed by actors who, as in the best of Soderbergh's films, revel in playing characters that, even in their villainy and hypocrisy, are never cartoonish. Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum will not cause drowsiness. Side Effects Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written … Continue reading →

Open Road Films Bitter pill: Rooney Mara in Side Effects If Side Effects, an immensely pleasurable thriller centering around psychotropic drugs, really is Steven Soderbergh's final big-screen film, as the director claims it will be, then he has peaked in the Valley of the Dolls. Side Effects Directed by Steven Soderbergh Open Road Films Opens February 8 Scripted by Scott Z. Burns, who also wrote the screenplay for Soderbergh's Contagion(2011), Side Effects shares, at least at first, the earlier movie's icy fury over the corruption of the medical profession. Psychiatrists dispense SSRIs and SNRIs like Pez candies and are wooed by Big Pharma reps over lunch at Le Cirque. Yet when this initially pointed critique of our quick-fix, highly medicated era becomes, in its final third, a twisty genre exercisefilled with double-crosses, blouses ripped in the heat of passion, and hidden microphonesit doesn't lessen the movie's punch. Side Effects is not, in the words of one uncharitable viewer I overheard after a press screening, "a Lifetime movie." This plot-packed last act further highlights our venal age and is performed by actors who, as in the best of Soderbergh's films, revel in playing characters that, even in their villainy and hypocrisy, … Continue reading →

"I'm not that gifted at the craft of screenwriting that I can just crank out a thing. I have to really care about it." That may be a somewhat surprising statement from a professional screenwriter like Scott Z. Burns, but it was made late into ComingSoon.net's interview when we recently met up with him at Tribeca's Greenwich Hotel, much like we did in July of 2011. Back then we were there to talk about the viral outbreak thriller Contagion, his second movie with director Steven Soderbergh which proved to be a huge hit. This time, we were there to talk about their follow-up Side Effects, a psychological thriller starring Rooney Mara as a woman suffering depression who is prescribed a drug by Jude Law's psychiatrist which instead starts a landslide of problems for both of them. Burns' statement is even more interesting when you realize that his latest collaboration with Soderbergh was something Burns had been developing to direct himself for nearly 12 years. By now, he probably had gotten used to telling the story of how Soderbergh convinced him to allow him to take over the directing reins--we heard Soderbergh's version ourselves last year--but for those who haven't heard … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh delves into the world of prescription drugs in his new film "Side Effects," a psychological thriller that opens on Friday. Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum play a couple whose lives unravel when she begins taking a new anti-anxiety medication prescribed by her psychiatrist, played by Jude Law. Soderbergh, 50, spoke with Reuters about his own experiences with prescription drugs, shooting in New York and what he plans to do on his self-imposed hiatus from film-making. Q: "Side Effects" shows characters either taking medication or prescribing them. Have you ever needed to take medication for your mood, for example? A: "Luckily, my equilibrium is fairly consistent, so I've never been in a position of wanting or needing something to stabilize my mood. The Inderal beta blocker, what they call the "speaking drug," is miraculous. I use that. A buddy of mine turned me on to it because I said, "I really hate getting up in front of people." He says, "You've got to try Inderal." It keeps you calm and keeps you from getting anxious. That's my only pill experience." Q: No pain-killing drugs that have landed so many in rehab? A: "I … Continue reading →

If "Side Effects" is indeed Steven Soderbergh's final film, as he's said it will be after toying with the notion of retirement for a couple of years now, then intriguingly it feels like he's coming full circle in some ways to the film that put him on the map: the trailblazing, 1989 indie "sex, lies and videotape." Both are lurid genre exercises, laid bare. Both focus on the intertwined lives of four central figures, including a scene in which one of the men interviews one of the women on video, hoping to unearth a hidden truth. Both movies are about danger, secrets and manipulation, filled with characters who aren't what they initially seem, all of which Soderbergh depicts with his typically cool detachment. Twists and double crosses occur and schemes are revealed as layer upon layer of Scott Z. Burns' clever script gets peeled away; it's actually going to be difficult to discuss "Side Effects" without giving too much away. Yet Soderbergh approaches such dramatic events with the same chilly tone that has marked so much of his work, even as the developments grow more than a little implausible. Just as matter-of-fact is the way the characters rattle off the … Continue reading →