It’s finally here! Movie buffs worldwide have been waiting for months to see Eyes Wide Shut, the late great Stanley Kubrick’s final film. This master director is responsible for some of filmdom’s most vivid images. Who can forget Slim Pickens riding an A-bomb like a bucking bronco in Dr. Strangelove? Or a crazed Jack Nicholson shouting “Here’s Johnny” in The Shining? Or practically every wonderful scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey? Regrettably, Eyes Wide Shut is not up to these high standards. So the big question is, after an 18-month production schedule in London and massive secrecy about the movie’s content during the past year, was it worth the wait?

The answer is yes, if only to sweep away the mystery surrounding this movie about sexual obsession and jealousy. And, despite its many boring stretches, the film emerges as a frequently mesmerizing study of erotic temptation. But moviegoers expecting to see megastar Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, his gorgeous wife, in graphically explicit sex scenes may be disappointed. Playing an upscale New York doctor and his wife, Cruise and Kidman have the advantage of drawing on their real life experiences to flesh out (no pun intended) their roles. As a man whose spouse confesses her desire for other men, Cruise projects emotional suffering with surprising depth. Kidman, portraying his sexy wife, displays her exquisite beauty while also delivering a fascinating performance. Her fine work here as a troubled modern woman could earn the Australian-born actress another Oscar nomination.

Inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 Dream Lover novella, Kubrick’s psychological thriller chronicles the jealous husband’s journey into into a bizarre sexual underworld. When he is threatened at a Masked Ball orgy, a mysterious woman rescues him, possibly at great risk to her own safety. By now, everyone knows this is the movie’s most controversial scene. In order to avoid the dreaded “NC-17” rating, it was digitally tampered with to obscure vigorous sexual activity. No matter. What remains in the lengthy, stylized sequence will keep the eyes of most viewers wide open.

Do Cruise and Kidman actually make love during the film? Well, sort of, but their semi-nude lovemaking scene is no match for what they say and for what’s in their minds. Will the characters they play become closer because of a new honesty about sexual feelings? Will this, in the end, save their marriage? You’ll have to see Eyes Wide Shut to find out.

Without a doubt, Kubrick’s last movie is a steamy, dreamy bit of filmmaking. But it is too “talky” and, at 159 minutes, much too long. If Kubrick had lived to see his movie shown for a regular audience, even he might have been tempted to shorten it.

(Released by Warner Bros. and rated “R” for adult sexual situations, nudity, strong language, violence, and drug use.)