Movies With Butter

Ever watched a commercial for a prescription drug and shuddered at the list of awful-sounding potential complications? Welcome to the world of Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects.

Billed as Soderbergh's retirement from theatrical filmmaking, Side Effects (formerly titled Bitter Pill) stars Rooney Mara as a woman whose anguished emotional state prompts her doctor (Jude Law) to prescribe a new medication. It initially seems to be a miracle drug, but you know how these things work in the movies -- nothing comes without a price, does it?

In this case, the price looks like murder, betrayal, and lots of yelling -- as well as plenty of the taut, discomfiting thrills we've come to expect from Soderbergh when he's in a serious mood. Perhaps more promisingly, it makes a case for just about every single character as either a villain or someone who's been unfairly accused of being one.

Side Effects is scheduled to arrive in theaters on February 8, 2013 -- which is a release date that usually serves as a warning to anyone searching for smart cinema, but if this trailer is anything to go by, it could prove to be an exception to the rule.

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