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In the Cut (9-Sep-2003)
Director: Jane Campion Writers: Jane Campion; Susanna Moore From novel: In the Cut: A Novel by Susanna Moore Music Composed by: Hilmar Ö Hilmarsson Producers: Laurie Parker; Nicole Kidman Keywords: Erotic Thriller A New York City teacher entertains a risky relatoinship with a detective investigating a recent murder in her neighborhood.
ABSTRACT
Enigmatic New York-based English teacher Frannie Avery possesses a fascination with sex despite her long-standing inability to get it from worthwhile men. Fearful for her safety in the aftermath of a grisly murder occurring near her apartment, Frannie decides to test her limits by engaging in a passionate affair with James Malloy, a tough-as-nails homicide detective who draws her into a tryst marked with danger and intrigue as she grows suspect of his innocence in the very crime he is tasked with investigating.
CAST | Meg Ryan | ... Frannie | | Mark Ruffalo | ... Det. Malloy | | Jennifer Jason Leigh | ... Pauline | | Nick Damici | ... Det. Rodriguez | | Sharrieff Pugh | ... Cornelius Webb | | | Micheal Nuccio | ... Frannie's Young Father | | Alison Nega | ... Young Father's Fiancee | | Dominick Aries | ... Attentive Husband | | Susan Gardner | ... Perfect Wife | | Heather Litteer | ... Angela Sands | | Daniel T. Booth | ... Red Turtle Bartender | | Yaani King | ... Frannie's Student | | Frank Harts | ... Frannie's Student | | Sebastian Sozzi | ... Frannie's Student | | Zack Wegner | ... Frannie's Student | | Patrice O'Neal | ... Hector (Baby Doll Bouncer) | | Funda Duval | ... Baby Doll Bartender | | Theo Kogan | ... Baby Doll Bartender | | Sandy Vital | ... Baby Doll Dancer | | Sharon Riggins | ... Baby Doll Dancer | | Karen Riggins | ... Baby Doll Dancer | | Nancy La Scala | ... Baby Doll Dancer | | Ami Goodheart | ... Baby Doll Dancer | | Upendran Panicker | ... Taxi Driver | | Kendra Zimmerman | ... Cafe Waitress | | Michelle Hurst | ... Teacher at Frannie's School | | Sunrise Coigney | ... Frannie's Young Mother | | Hal Sherman | ... Forensic Detective | | Dana Lubotsky | ... Laundry Room Murder Witness | | Jacinto Taras Riddick | ... Detective in Precinct | | Arthur Nascarella | ... Capt. Crosley | | James Firo | ... Det. Halloran | | Cordell Clyde | ... Informer | | Tim House | ... Baby Doll Bar Customer | | Julius Le Flore | ... Cursing Motorist | | Vinny Vella, Sr. | ... Concerned Bystander |
REVIEWS Review by Striker5 (posted on 27-Mar-2009) This film warrants one star for a wonderful, surreal, faintly disturbing title sequence. Much of the film's notoriety comes from typecast "cutie" Meg Ryan's nude/sex scenes. The plot revolves around the sexual awakening, of sorts, of mousy Fran (Ryan), an English teacher. She leads an introverted existence, broken only by her relationship with her sister and one of her students. Her life is thrown off track when she accidentally witnesses two people having sex and the woman later turns up, sans head. Romantic/sexual tension is generated as Fran oscillates between detective Mark Ruffalo and ex-boyfriend Kevin Bacon. As murders continue, the suspense is generated by ambiguity of the men in Fran's life and their possible connection to the murders.
I am a big fan of Jane Campion's work and the surrealism and production values of In the Cut are first rate. The performances are as good as they can be, given the bizarre world the movie inhabits.
The dialogue reads like something written by a wrathful high school feminist. The male figures in the film are caricatures of men in some warped feminazi dystopia. It is so unrealistic that it hurts the film's drive and credibility. My favorite scene is where Ruffalo and his partner banter in an absurdly crude and callous hyper-macho fasion in front of Fran.
Fran: "Are all police officers homophobes?"
Cop: "What are you, some kind of feminist?"
Campion falls into a rather common trap that she usually avoids: the two-dimensional protrayal of the "other" (in Campion's case, men).
The foreboding and haunting title sequence aside, this is an atmospheric movie debilitated by its feminist claptrap dialogue.
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