In the Cut (2003)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Read some of the titles of the dunce reviewers who gave this gem a 1 - same morons that gave The Shawshank Redemption 10's. They're ridiculous so don't read the morons because it will kill off some brain cells or at least leave you sad. Just saw the movie on HBO GO - where was I when this came out? Anyway,, beautiful film by Jane Campion. Wonderfully cast, Meg Ryan shines - Jennifer Jason Leigh is great as always - Mark Ruffalo fantastic as a NYC homicide detective. The film has it all - just watch it. Suspense, sexual dynamics between men and women, humor, poetry. I loved this film. Straight 8 from beginning to end.

A sexually frustrated school teacher becomes involved with a cop investigating a series of murders. Ryan tries to shed her good girl image but manages to only shed her clothes. She seems to have had too much work done on her face, which is rather distracting. Speaking of distracting, the direction is horrible, with the shaking camera and ugly framing constantly calling attention away from the story - not that there is much going on of interest in the story anyway. Campion is responsible for the poor direction as well as the lousy screenplay. The plot is lacking in narrative flow and the dialog is embarrassingly bad. Ruffalo is usually worth watching, but he can't do much with his undeveloped character. Leigh comes off best.

This is my first review on IMDb and I've chosen In the Cut because I think it's simply the most underrated film ever made. The perspicacious manner in which the characters subtly squirm into their respective roles is scintillating. This film is sexy and its dark and quintessentially so. I love Mark Ruffalo, he's almost seedy to the point of criminality yet is able to encapsulate a determined sexual energy that he superimposes upon the frigidity of Meg Ryan - who is gorgeous in this, if nothing else she's real and vulnerable, a great performance. Don't expect this film to create the perfect theatrical arc, it won't. Allow the atmosphere of unsettling mystery and damaged persona into your thinking and this becomes a dark portrayal of sexual frustration, licentiousness and fear. It's all about the frailty of the human condition. This is Campion at her best.

Jane Campion clearly can't make it. The film doesn't work at all. At first, we have the framing, witch is very tiring, with the continuous close - ups and the hand held camera only makes things worse. Blurring things or dimming the lights does not, I repeat does not creates atmosphere, it only shows luck of creativeness together with a very old fashion approach in film making. Showing us again and again every detail of the faces of the actors does not engage us more, it only makes us want to zoom out ourselves to see wtf is going on. The music is so academic that it doesn't exist. Worst of all: The dialogs. The film crawls all the way from the beginning to the bitter end and the dialogs are drugging it the other way. What can I say? Together with Holy Smoke, a film that ruined the talented Harvey Keitel and Kate Winslet, (a tragedy really), In The Cut is so pointless that makes you wonder, was she really thinking making them? I wouldn't consider watching anything else from her. I gave her a four, for it's obvious that she tried, but she clearly failed. She doesn't have it. Sorry Jane.