IN THE CUT Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Jane Campion Producers: Laurie Parker, Nicole Kidman Writers: Jane Campion, Susanna Moore; based on the novel by Susanna Moore Director of Photography: Dion Beebe, ACS Cast: Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

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Review by: Warren Curry
10/19/03

With the amount of talent that was assembled to make In The Cut, I am nearly at a loss to understand how this film could have gone so terribly wrong. The movie marks a jump into new terrain for both its star, the almost always charming Meg Ryan, and director, Jane Campion (The Piano), who leaves the arthouse to make a genre piece that seems much better suited for the sensibilities of a filmmaker like Adrian Lyne. In The Cut is supposed to be a sensual, atmospheric thriller, but under the confused direction of Campion it comes off lacking any tension and the blunt sexual scenes are much more sterile -- even almost clumsy at times -- than erotic. With a running time of 118 minutes, I find it difficult to imagine that most viewers' attentions won't have checked out a good half hour (and that's being generous) before the end credits finally roll.

Ryan stars as Frannie Avery, an English teacher living in Manhattan, who becomes sexually (notice I didn't use the word "romantically") involved with an absolute jerk of a homicide detective named Malloy (Mark Ruffalo). Malloy is investigating the murder of a young woman whose corpse was found outside of Frannie's apartment, and soon enough the officer asks Frannie out on a date. You've seen Frannie's character numerous times before -- the stilted, introverted, straight-laced woman, who has always suppressed the wild child buried deep inside. So, of course, Malloy serves as the catalyst for the liberation of the sexually repressed Frannie, who is encouraged by her extroverted half-sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to explore a relationship with the cop.

But Frannie has a few other weirdos vexing her, including a student (Sharrieff Pugh) who the woman has been somewhat flirtatious with (I guess he endeared himself to his teacher by writing a paper alleging the innocence of serial killer John Wayne Gacy) and a laughably not-so-creepy ex-lover named John (Kevin Bacon). When the murders continue, and hit even closer to home to Frannie, the woman begins to believe everyone around her, even Malloy, might be the culprit.

Jane Campion and Susanna Moore adapted the screenplay from Moore's novel, which I don't know anything about. For the sake of the author's literary credibility, I can only hope this is a completely unfaithful adaptation of her work. In The Cut's script is the film's biggest failing. There is not an intriguing character to be found anywhere. We learn next to nothing about Frannie, but what little we do get to know of her leads one to believe that she would 1.) want nothing to do with a thug like Malloy; 2.) be wise and mature enough not to prey upon the confused, vulnerable feelings of her students; 3.) stay the hell away from an unstable nut like John.

The characterizations of Malloy and his even more despicable partner, Rodriguez (Nick Damici), come straight from the vault of bad Hollywood police movie clichés (including, in Malloy's case, the obligatory bad moustache). Beyond that, these witless brutes are ridiculous portraits of what the average working class New York male is like, complete with exaggerated accents and mannerisms. Ruffalo is terribly miscast, and anyone who knows what this usually very good actor is capable of will especially smirk at the absurdity of his performance.

As for Meg -- yes, she'll surprise her legions of fans in a role that is very much the antithesis of the usual Meg Ryan character. The sexual scenes aren't as graphic as the advertising and word-of-mouth may lead you to believe (and lack any kind of spark), but it's certainly a daring departure for the actress, who's built a career playing imminently likeable, inoffensive characters. Unfortunately, it's hard to view this as anything other than a novelty role for Ryan, given the fact that she has so little to work with.

Campion's direction relies on a lot of soft focus, dark lighting schemes, and suffocating, unsteady close-ups to create a sense of atmosphere, which she partially achieves. However, the director is reluctant to do anything with it, and the resulting problem is that we stop caring (or maybe I should say we never start caring) who the killer is. In fact, with all of the attention paid to Frannie's steamy underside and the rogue gallery of oddballs surrounding her, it's easy to forget that there's even a killer on the loose. The movie's focus splinters in so many different directions that nothing remains at the film's core. In The Cut is Campion's obvious attempt to go mainstream, but her wordy visual syntax lacks the swift, straightforward economy needed to pull this material off. It's like asking a poet to bang out a lurid pulp novel.

Completely uninspired and taxing to sit through, In The Cut is a giant, unfathomable misstep for everyone involved.

(A Screen Gems release. Opens in New York and Los Angeles on October 22, 2003. Expands to more cities on October 24 and October 31, 2003.)