Tom Cruise Says This Is the One Film He’ll Always Be ‘Incredibly Proud’ Of

Tom Cruise has often spoken about the unique experience of working on Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, released in 1999.

The drama, set in New York City, stars Cruise as a doctor whose wife, played by Nicole Kidman, admits she once considered cheating. This revelation sends him on a night-long journey through a secret society, forcing him to confront hidden truths about himself.

Speaking to CNN, Cruise described the experience of working with Kubrick as extraordinary.

“The script was effective, and moving, and provoking, and working with him in every scene he just – you know, he would just caress and work on, and it was an extraordinary experience because Kubrick is a guy who gives you the landscape with the least amount of colour so that, almost – he wants the audience to participate,” Cruise said.

He added that Kubrick wanted viewers to bring their own perspective to the story. “He wants them to imbue almost their own life and poses these questions to them so that the audience, in a way, they are experts.”

Cruise also recalled seeing the film in New York and wishing he could have watched it in London with Kidman and Kubrick. Due to scheduling conflicts, including Kidman’s theater work and Cruise’s travel to Australia, that didn’t happen. “We were kind of amazed by – not ‘kind of’, I was amazed by the movie, and stunned, and felt incredibly proud of the movie, and to have been a part of his picture,” he said.

Eyes Wide Shut is based on Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 novella Dream Story. Kubrick first acquired the rights in the 1960s and returned to the project decades later with writer Frederic Raphael.

The film was mostly shot in England with detailed recreations of New York City streets, using VistaVision, marking the first major use of the format for principal photography since the 1960s. The production lasted 400 days, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous film shoot.

The movie premiered in Los Angeles on September 8, 1999, and was released theatrically in the United States on July 16. Warner Bros. digitally altered some explicit scenes to secure an R rating.

While initial reception was mixed, critical opinion has grown more positive over time. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 76% approval rating, with reviewers praising Kubrick’s direction, the film’s intensity, and its dreamlike atmosphere.

Critics like Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune called the film a masterpiece, praising its hypnotic tension and visual style.

Roger Ebert highlighted Kubrick’s ability to maintain a unique, unsettling, and erotic tone throughout, while James Berardinelli noted the film’s provocative exploration of sexual morality and praised Kidman’s performance. The New York Times’ Janet Maslin described it as a serious and eerie look at human desire, maintaining Kubrick’s signature dreamlike intensity.

Looking back, Cruise continues to hold the film in high regard and values his collaboration with Kubrick. “I felt incredibly proud of the movie, and to have been a part of his picture,” he said.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!