Jack Goes Confidential: Coping with ‘Side Effects’ Could Be Hazardous to Your Health

Let me preface my remarks by saying right upfront that SIDE EFFECTS is a solid psychological mind twister…

Not a big movie by any means but an interesting assemblage of screen talent that holds you in suspense throughout the film’s 106 minutes-long running time.

n broad terms SIDE EFFECTS delves into our current pharmaceutical mania, its marketing and the potential consequences.

The storyline has Rooney Mara of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO fame awaiting release of her husband Channing Tatum from prison after serving time for insider trading.

A happy reunion?

Sure, but it doesn’t last long with Mara’s ongoing struggles with anxiety and depression.

Enter psychiatrist Jude Law who now prescribes doses of new experimental anti-depressants, even meeting with Mara’s former shrink Catherine Zeta-Jones for background information. That twist # 2.
Twist # 1 is when Mara’s character….well I’m not spilling the beans.
 
Then the thriller takes a REAL turn you won’t see coming.

If for nothing else it does create some rather bizarre side effects for (almost) all parties concerned.

Following last summer’s surprise hit MAGIC MIKE, director Steven Soderbergh goes in a totally different direction here while Rooney Mara proves she is rapidly becoming a major female force in movies today.

Would I recommend SIDE EFFECTS to silver screen thrill seekers?

Definitely.

But remember that what you see isn’t necessarily what it is and makes for unseen consequences.

I’m raising 3-1/2 out of 5 unsavery fingers.