By the time I got around to seeing Side Effects, it had been in the theaters for a number of weeks. I had expected a depressing and angry corporate malfeasance picture. And that’s exactly what I got… in act one. What I didn’t expect were the second and third acts. It’s like sucking on a Gobstopper for the first time and realizing the layers keep getting tastier the more you stick with it. Once again I went with my friend G.I. Joe, still recovering from his gall bladder removal. We even flipped a coin at what movie we would see. I think I should start doing that more often. Side Effects is fantastic.

Channing Tatum is one of many stars packing this film. He plays a recently-released white collar criminal, married to Rooney Mara’s mentally unstable Emily. We know she’s unstable because Emily drives her car straight into a wall, on purpose. The couple decide to seek out the help of Dr. Jonathan Banks played by Jude Law. With her depression getting the best of her, including a sad breakdown at a work party, the couple continuously search out alternative medical solutions. Jude Law brings a real, caring humanity to the rich, educated, and driven Dr. Banks. Despite his success and the nary-a-hair-out-of-place sense of organization that he brings, you can feel that he truly cares to help his patients. The writing is so smart and human. There’s a remarkable scene where Dr. Banks is explaining to his patients about a drug trial he’s being payed to promote. It’s short and simple, but its purpose is to make clear that this man has a strong ethical code. He’s so straightforward and honest with his patients, I never once felt he didn’t deserve the success he reaped. After consulting with Emily’s previous therapist, Dr. Victoria Siebert (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones), he decides to put Emily on a new drug – but with disastrous effects.

I’m not well.

Warning – I’m about to divulge one spoiler. As a result of the sleep walking side effect of her new drug, Emily stabs her husband to death. I’ve now seen Channing Tatum in four films: both G.I. Joe movies, Haywire, and Side Effects. He’s died in two of them. Those happen to be the only two I liked. It’s possible that’s it’s a coincidence. I also saw both of those with my gall bladderless friend. So maybe that’s the reason. Either way – I like that Channing is willing to die. It means he’s at least trying to be about the art.

Here is where I have to slow down on details. Even telling you I’m going to slow down will ruin some of the surprise. But Stephen Soderberg has crafted a meticulously made film that sucks you in. While waiting for the seemingly obligatory court scenes and angry corporate fights about who is liable for the death, Side Effects sneaks in the most unexpected thriller plot I’ve ever experienced. Act two explores how the need for the world to find blame leads our virtuous doctor into a dark place and you feel badly for him. Discussions of guilt – the patient, the drug manufacturer, the doctor who prescribed it – is truly compelling philosophical discussion, but it acts as a legitimate shroud to what it really going on. Thar be crimes yonder!

Let’s just say that act two is a mystery story, and act three is revenge.

Let’s be friends.

I love being surprised. Not just by the unexpected story elements that the trailer completely doesn’t give away. But also by the fact Side Effects does the rarest of rare things in film. It’s a thriller with a tight plot. It goes to the edges of believability but never crosses over and there are almost no thrillers that do that. We could say Hitchcock would be proud. But I really have no idea. I’m proud. Proud that someone else can write something of that caliber.

Huge credit must go to Scott Z. Burns, for writing a screenplay that puts a most complicated and believable set of machinations in the center of real questions about the role drugs play in our lives. By the time we resolve our own feelings about prescription drugs, we wake up to the reality that things are not as they seem. Kudos to Zeta-Jones for taking on a small role that alternates between compassion, corporate greed, and just plain mean. She has little screen time but makes the most of it. And Rooney Mara is equally good depicting her mental states as it shifts in and out of various different drugs.

The plot is complicated and intricate. To say more would ruin the fun and just bore you with details. Go see this movie if it’s still playing in your area. And if you miss it, go rent it when given the chance. It’s paced a bit slow and methodical throughout. It could have gotten to the end a wee bit faster, but that’s a minor issue. Joe loved himself and he has no gall bladder. So it must be good.

 Discuss:

Have you or will you see ‘Side Effects?’