In the Cut (2003)

Director:

Jane Campion

Writers:

Susanna Moore (novel)
Jane Campion (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 October 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Everything you know about desire is dead wrong.

Plot:

A New York writing professor, Frannie Avery (Ryan), has an erotic affair with a police detective (Ruffalo) investigating a murder in her neighborhood of a beautiful young woman...

Plot Keywords:

Hit By Car | Stiletto Heels | Dog | Police Badge | Nightmare

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Pauline
Meg Ryan	...	Frannie
Micheal Nuccio	...	Frannie's Young Father
Allison Nega	...	Young Father's Fiancee (as Alison Nega)
Dominick Aries	...	Attentive Husband
Susan Gardner	...	Perfect Wife
Sharrieff Pugh	...	Cornelius Webb
Nick Damici	...	Detective Rodriguez
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
Zach Wegner	...	Frannie's Student (as Zack Wegner)
Mark Ruffalo	...	Detective Malloy

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality including explicit dialogue, nudity, graphic crime scenes and language.

Runtime:

119 min | Canada:113 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Australia | USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Iceland:16 | Brazil:18 | South Korea:18 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R (original rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut director's edition) | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Pathe Productions

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Jane Campion]the bar waitress in the first date between Frannie and Detective Malloy

Goofs:

Continuity: When Franny sits down with Cornelius the first time and she opens her notebook, the "new word" he gives her is already written there, before he tells her.

Quotes:

Frannie: The still waters of the water under a frond of stars. The still waters of your mouth under a thicket of kisses.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Knocked Up (2007)

Soundtrack:

Que Sera Sera

Hauntingly, eerily bad

Meg Ryan and Jennifer Jason Leigh look like real people in this movie. That and the symbolism are about the only things that work in this movie.

I haven't read the book, but I have a feeling this is one of those cases where the book was much better than the movie. Sorry to see Meg, Jennifer, and Kevin Bacon signed on for this.

The problems are simple and easily fixed. First, when you set up a film, it's a make-believe world. That doesn't mean that the characters get to do whatever they want, though. They have to have some sort of behavioral logic to their actions. Jennifer Jason Leigh's character goes just a mite too far to be believable in that "I know I'm a psycho stalker, but I can't help it" schtick, Meg Ryan makes several illogical moves that make the viewer think, "I know no one who would do that," and the Kevin Bacon thing just throws the whole movie for a loop for no apparent reason, as nothing seems to be resolved in that subplot.

Meg Ryan paints a beautiful emotional landscape (which is often difficult for romantic comedy actresses to do) but sadly, the rest of the film and even her own character's actions fail to live up to this emotionally believable performance.

3/10, partially for how many times we've seen this plot in movies before. Come up with something more original please.

See Se7en, Don't Say a Word, or Sleeping With the Enemy if you want better.