BLU-RAY
REVIEW: SIDE EFFECTS
5/19/2013

OVERVIEW: From Academy Award®-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion) comes
this suspenseful tale of intrigue starring Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street), Academy Award® nominees
Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network) and Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Anna
Karenina), and Academy Award® winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Ocean’s Twelve). Side Effects will be available on
Digital Download on May 7, 2013 as well as Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand on May 21, 2013 from
Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack allows fans to watch Side Effects anytime, anywhere on the device of their choice. It
includes a Blu-ray™ disc, a DVD, a Digital Copy and UltraViolet™ for the ultimate, complete viewing experience.
SYNOPSIS: After her husband (Tatum) is released from prison for insider trading, Emily (Mara) begins suffering from terrifying
anxiety and turns to psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Law) for help. But when Banks prescribes an experimental drug for her,
the side effects have chilling and deadly consequences. Full of unexpected twists, Side Effects is the sexy psychological
thriller that critics are calling “wildly unpredictable!” (Marlow Stern, Newsweek).
FILM REVIEW: Director
Steven Soderbergh (Magic Mike, 2012) and screenwriter Scott Z.
Burns (Contagion, 2011) have crafted this provocative thriller,
taking on the subject of questioning the doctor/patient
relationship, the ethics that comes with it all and the efficacy
of prescription medication. The ultra-talented pair delivers
Side Effects, as a quasi-factual, thought provoking
psychological thriller, focusing on a new anti-anxiety drug
that, like in many of today’s pharmaceutical claims, is the
perfect wonder drug until one acknowledges the side effects (no
pun intended). Interestingly enough, the film really proposes
some relevant material concerning the responsibility that
doctors have for their patients’ behavior, the moral grey zone
that comes out of their participating in pharmaceutical testing,
and the difference between being guilty and committing a crime.
This columniation sets the tone for the movie and wastes no time
in drawing audiences in to witnessing bewildering patterns of
behavior that makes the movie extremely unpredictable and
sobering at the same time. I specifically liked how Soderbergh
and Burns give us a much more personal story here, manipulating
the audience’s emotions by slowly leaking bits and pieces of
information as the film evolves.
Channing Tatum, who previously
paired with Soderbergh on the quasi-biographic Magic Mike and
the black ops thriller Haywire, does a spectacular job with his
character. The married, successful entrepreneur role seems to be
a bit a departure from his former roles, but somehow he’s able
to show the versatility in his craft. On the other hand, it is
not very much of a departure for Jude Law to play a psychiatrist
character with relative ease. He does appear to be more at home
with the role in very convincing way.
I really liked the choice of
Rooney Mara (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, 2012) for the,
pill-popping housewife character that is depressed to an
incapacitating degree. She, like no one else can, brings a
remarkable element to the serious tone of the subject matter.
She was every bit of what would be expected of such a character.
Likewise, Catherine Zeta-Jones rounds out the sex appeal stacked
cast as a potential drug company insider, with real panache and
deviousness.
All that said Side Effects
ultimately illustrate the greed of immoral men and women
involved with the drug industry. It’s, in the end, a
delightfully peculiar crime-fiction for which the realistically
portrayed drugs are window-dressing for the underlying problem
we face with a corrupt industry. Ultimately, the flick seems to
be more about thugs than drugs with a medical thriller twist.
Creating a world that was so medically real, could only be this
believable, by casting such talent. This flick definitely
deserves four out of five stars for great character-based
writing and subject matter.
Review
By Movi-Man Stan
BLU-RAY:
The film is
presented in widescreen in a 1.85:1 aspect ration preserving its
theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the
picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good,
a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement
to the picture. It also includes English
and Spanish subtitles.
VIDEO:
Widescreen (1.85:1) 16x9
AUDIO:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0, French DTS Surround 5.1, Spanish DTS Surround 5.1
Subtitles - English Spanish
French
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
Blu-ray™ disc unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring perfect hi-def picture and hi-def sound.
DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away.
Digital Copy
provides consumers with a choice of formats from a variety of partners, including options to watch on iPhone®,
iPad®, Android, computers and more.
UltraViolet™
is the revolutionary way for consumers to collect their movies and TV shows in the cloud. UltraViolet™ lets
consumers instantly stream and download to tablets, smartphones, computers and TVs. Now available in both the United States
and Canada.
ALIZA WEBSITE EXPERIENCE
BEHIND-THE-SCENES OF SIDE EFFECTS
ABLIXA COMMERCIAL – the fictional drug portrayed in the film
INTENIN COMMERCIAL