Fans of Channing Tatum may be disappointed to know he’s not in Steven Soderbergh’s new film Side Effects very long. Not that major stars Jude

Law and Rooney Mara aren’t’ worth watching, but for me the intrigue screenwriter Scott Z. Burns tries to conjure up, is more frustrating than pleasing.

Emily (Mara) works in a New York City office and has been patiently waiting for four years for her husband, Martin (Channing), to get out of jail for insider trading. Emily and Martin’s mother are ecstatic to pick him up from jail. Martin can’t wait to get his wife home and ravish her; but things go from equator hot to North Pole chilly before the couple finishes their first bed toss. This might not have been so evident had the camera not been on Emily’s dour face before Martin even rolled out of bed. That was the first “red flag” in this crime drama.

Within hours, Martin, “not the drugs again,” notices his wife’s odd behavior. Already having dealt with major depression, Emily reveals she’s having trouble again. She deliberately drives herself into a wall in the garage only a day or two after Martin has been home.

Emily finally goes to a psychiatrist. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) consults with Emily’s former doctor, Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones), about Emily’s past history. He prescribes her some drugs, but after taking them for only a short time, she’s having trouble on her job and at home. Martin tries to be patient with this wife while also trying to find work.

Weeks pass by as Banks prescribes one drug after another when Emily confronts him with side effects from all of them. After seeing an ad at the subway for a new drug – just before Emily is stopped from jumping in front of a subway train – Emily mentions to Banks on her next visit she wants to try the new Ablixa. And then it happens!