“Gangster Squad” may have earned the title of First Major DisappointmentOof 2013, but new movies from both Park Chan-Wook and Steven Soderbergh around the corner, are enough to keep morale high. Park is of course taking a gamble with his first English-language film “Stoker,” but with the Rooney Mara/Channing Tatum thriller “Side Effects,” Soderbergh has his retirement in mind, looking to exit on a high note as two new images and a few choice quotes appear to suggest.
“It will be the last for a long time,” Soderbergh explained about the film in a recent NYT article, and based on the director's plans to paint, write, or pursue some other creative pursuits, most are inclined to believe him. Still, the Scott Z. Burns-penned look at a woman's turn to pharmaceuticals upon her husband's prison release should cap off this current career phase nicely, with a stellar cast including Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vinessa Shaw tackling a dark pharmaceutical thriller vibe.
The images released depict perhaps the happier side to that tone but Burns also promised a gripping reflection of society's reliance on meds, one that apparently gave many medical professionals cause for alarm. “I spent more time on the phone with my lawyer on this than on all my others movies combined,” he said. Alongside Soderbergh (who claims his prescription med knowledge stops at the beta-blocker Inderal), Burns also pointed to the influences that steered their film in the early stages. “This is my attempt to create a modern noir,” the writer added. “It's kind of a Hitchcock sort of thing.”
You can see a glimpse of exactly what sort from the pics below, and later on when “Side Effects” is released in theatres February 8th. [EW]
