One of Kubrick's Best?
This movie came out when I was a teenager, and I only saw it for the first time in 2016, so I never really felt any of the backlash or disdain. For me, it was just an unturned stone in Kubrick's filmography.
And I thought it was brilliant. On its own merits, I thought it was an entertaining and interesting story. And for a Kubrick film, I thought it was just as artful and thrilling as Full Metal Jacket or The Shining. From reading people's reviews and opinions, it seems like this is truly a case of people "not getting it". For me, it seemed like a relatively straightforward exploration of relationships, love, marriage, and sexuality. But it seems like others were expecting some type of epic murder/sci-fi/crime drama. For me, I understood exactly what they were doing, and it seemed perfect.