In the Cut Poster

In the Cut (2003)

Mystery  
Rayting:   5.3/10 22K votes
Country: UK | Australia
Language: English
Release date: 12 February 2004

New York City writing professor, Frannie Avery, has an affair with a police detective, who is investigating the murder of a beautiful young woman in her neighborhood.

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User Reviews

Lemos 19 March 2004

By now we are all more or less familiar with Ms. Campion's filming style and tempo. While she has been successful with this style on previous occasions this time I think this was a total mishit. Meg Ryan wallows through the movie in a poetic trance, Ruffalo can't make up his mind if he's a tough or a sensitive cop, the killings are totally unexplained and unmotivated, the sex scene are limp and bland, with porno type dialogue, no chemistry whatsover between the actors, I could rant on forever and ever. In fact I so disapointed with this movie that I could nit-pick on it all day. Okay so Meg Ryan plays against type. Wow! I personally think she should stick to her day job.

jeff-90 27 July 2004

Fmovies: I had low expectations as I thought the book was overrated but this was so much worse than I thought possible. The whole movie made me squirm it was so awful. The dialogue is terrible, there is no motivation behind ANY of the actions or words of any of the characters. The sex scenes were uncomfortable, not sexy. Every word spoken by the 2 cops was cringe inducing. Nothing rings true and there isn't a likeable character in the whole movie. There is no suspense, no tension. And while Meg's body looked fine her face looked awful.

Jane Campion owes her an apology. The worst movie I have seen in years.

moonspinner55 9 July 2006

Half-baked, underwritten crime drama-cum-sexual thriller has Meg Ryan playing mousy English teacher in NYC attracted to a handsome homicide investigator on a serial murder case, one that has left body parts in Ryan's yard (and yet this barely fazes her!). Sub-plots involving Ryan's half-sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh, trying hard with a bad part), ex-boyfriend (an unbilled Kevin Bacon), her students, her job, and her fetish for the English vocabulary go absolutely nowhere. Meg, trying for an understated seriousness--but mostly just looking unhappy--gives a fairly brave and intriguing performance, and it's interesting to see her in these jittery, sordid surroundings, but the plot is alternately off-putting and curiously morbid; it's a fascinating misfire. Nicole Kidman co-produced (and perhaps was in line to star in the film herself), but Ryan does as good a job as any actress might have in the role. **1/2 from ****

Otto_Partz_973 23 February 2004

In the Cut fmovies. From beginning to end, an uninteresting, incomprehensible, unrewarding waste of time. Lack of sympathetic characters in itself is not always a bad thing (I'm thinking Taxi Driver, Bad Lieutenant, Goodfellas) but without some performance to draw you in, some attitude or conflict with which to identify, you're simply left in the company of dullards or cretins, both of which are in good supply here. I know Meg Ryan's character is supposed to be bland and timid, but she's also supposed to have some fire burning within, some unfulfilled desire that makes her enter into a risky affair (remember Diane Keaton in 'Looking For Mr. Goodbar?). She shows this in her sex scenes, but none in other moments. Mark Ruffalo? Wonderful performance, if being both wooden and extremely repellent at the same time was the requirement. Kevin Bacon, slumming once again (he seems determined to make 'Three Degrees of Kevin Bacon WAY to easy to play) provides the only interesting performance, but his character is such an obvious red herring that the fun of it diminishes under the formula. The worst offense, however, is the total lack of motive for the killings. 'In the Cut' is apparently (and I'm just guessing here) a skating reference, but what's the point? All the sturm and drang about the mother and father's romance on skates, and the ridiculous dream sequence...why? After nearly two hours spent with ugly characters in ugly surroundings amidst ugly circumstances, there is no payoff, no explanation, no insight. Yuchh.

Later: I read the book. Somehow I was compelled. And it made this abortion of a movie all the more egregious since the author had a hand in it. The book was honest and compelling and had an ending that was DEVESTATING and COMPLETELY in sync with the rest of the story. Why, why, why, do these filmmakers think they can't offer an honest, violent, sad ending to an American audience? This sell-out on the part of the author ranks right up there with the one inflicted by the director of both the original 'The Vanshing' and the US remake. Shame on you for selling out your vision.

sol- 19 January 2005

Many people out there do not understand the difference between the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar. After all, if the director is responsible for making sure all the elements mix well together, then surely Best Director should be the same as Best Picture? Well that is not quite the case, as far as I understand it. The writing of the film, or the story itself, is at least the main thing that a director does not have complete control of. There are other elements too of course. But the reason why it is so hard to explain the difference to people is that it is rare to come across a film that is well directed but nothing much else. However, 'In the Cut' is an example of such a film.

The plot is a thriller about some serial killer who is killing young women. Sound familiar yet? However there is a (pseudo) erotic romance involved too. Our protagonist is an outgoing female, but yet one with weaknesses. The storyline revolves around a primarily sexual relationship that she starts with a detective investigating the case, however all along she suspects that he is the killer, because she saw someone with the same tattoo receiving oral sex from one of the murder victims. I won't reveal the rest of the plot, which may sound slightly original, but yet I can reassure you it is quite hackneyed in the execution.

The film is based on a novel written by Susannah Moore, which I am yet to read, and after seeing the film adaptation, I am in no mood to. Campion takes to writing the screenplay, but helped along by Moore. In 1993, Campion did a superb job writing 'The Piano', for which she received a well-deserved Oscar. The characters in the film were all interesting and well developed, and the story was no difficulty to understand. It was also quite original. The material for this movie however revolves around a familiar plot that has a thriller element. More time in the script is dedicated therefore towards the thriller – and romance – aspects of the story, and less towards the drama. That's not to say that the characters are poorly developed or anything, but it does not help. The main problem with the writing of the film is the story itself. It has so many familiar elements and at times it is predictable and clichéd.

The acting is not much better than ordinary either. Ryan has a few good moments, but is often over-the-top. The rest of the cast is, well, satisfactory, but nothing special, give or take Kevin Bacon. However Bacon's character is perhaps the most questionable one of the lot. So if the writing and acting in the film is ordinary, can it be a great film? Not really. How then, one might wonder, is it well directed? Campion is a very good director. She knows exactly how to direct a film to give it the right atmosphere and make it look good. In the Cut is one of the best-looking thrillers I've seen of this decade. As in 'The Portrait of a Lady', Campion demonstrates an acute eye for colour and light in the film. The execution is very polished. On a surface level it does not look like a cheap Hollywood film. It does not look like a vehicle for Ryan or any of her co-stars. Kudos especially goes to Campion's vision of the flashbacks used in the film, which are reminiscent of the vignettes Kidman's worldwide voyages in 'The Portrait of a Lady'. Even Campion's use of black and white aids the visual style.

This is certainly one of the most unique films I have come across, but I don't say that in an overly positive manner. It is a very good-looking fi

Nazi_Fighter_David 21 May 2007

In fact, much of Frannie's allure is that she isn't shy about her body, or even afraid to engage in sexual activity with Detective James Malloy (Mark Ruffalo) in her two room apartment on Washington SquareÂ…

In the Red Turtle bar, Frannie (Meg Ryan) inadvertently watched a man, with a tattoo on his wrist, receiving oral gratification from a girl with blue fingernails having diamonds in themÂ…

Soon after, there was a homicide in Frannie's neighborhoodÂ… The body of the woman, or part of her body, to be exact, was found in the garden outside her windowÂ…The girl who was murdered was Angela Sands with the blue fingernails Â…

As the psychopath strikes again and again, Frannie embarks on a powerfully physical sexual relationship with Malloy, despite her rising suspicions, later on, that the serial killer in question may very well be the 'good cop' with the 'three of spade' she saw onceÂ…

Meg Ryan plays a very interior character living out of her unconscious emotions and actions, seeming always scared of what she wants… Her only passion was poetry… Her former lover Kevin Bacon— mentally unbalanced—thinks he should stick around because he slept with her twice… Bacon maintains a threatening presence throughout the whole picture… Jennifer Jason Leigh— exquisitely sexy— graces the screen as Frannie's half-sister Pauline… In his few scenes with Ryan, Sharrieff Pugh proves to be sweet and charming but also bad and scary…

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