In The Cut DVD [2003]

Whilst this film is a bit dated now and probably not very 'PC' by today's standards, it is an intriguing murder mystery and shows Meg Ryan as you've never her before. Worth a watch if you have a spare hour and forty minutes.

This works well, from its edgy opening to its thrilling end-point. I was uncertain about Mark Ruffalo in the main cop role, but he quickly became extremely watchable, and Meg Ryan was convincing as a teacher with a deeply felt want for male company. Meeting up with one of her students in a bar she goes down into the strangely ill-lit cellar to find the 'ladies' and is hypnotised by a long, (lovingly filmed) sex act taking place, the man's face in shadow, though she sees a very important clue to his identity.Girls are being killed, their heads and other parts cut away and one body turns up in her garden. She is attracted to the cop in charge of the case, and it is not long before they are getting together. She both distrusts and likes him (and we've all been there), but then her sister is killed and the trauma she suffers is very well-played. Ryan does anguish extremely well. A cameo by Kevin Bacon is entertaining - he seems to turn up in almost every film I see.The ending of this exciting and highly charged erotic novel (of the same name and by Susanna Moore) is changed for the film - and I am not surprised. It would be hard to justify any other decision, if you know the story's original ending. Not a cop-out but a timely avoidance of gore for the sake of it. Director Jane Campion knows what she is doing and there is dark psychological suspense enough to satisfy anyone.

I have not read the book on which this film is based but my overwhelming takeaway from this film was sadness at the plight of the women portrayed who go in for inappropriate relationships with predatory or mixed-up men.Yes there are some sex and raunchy club scenes that all come across as slightly desperate and sleazy, which I guess is the point. Meg Ryan teacher is a bit of a fish out of water - moved by subway poetry, collecting interesting words and teaching Woolf's The Lighthouse - in this landscape of pimps, hookers, lap dancers, blow jobs and assorted wackos.Meg has a 'room of her own'. However it's not a haven for reading, writing and reflection but rather a location for masturbation and sex with her cop buddy who seems just as interested in investigating her body as in his serial killer case.Other than that I thought the cinematography of New York was excellent. The plot was sufficiently twisty to keep your attention all the way to the happy ending (as if) after Meg does her own version of Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle at her own New York lighthouse.Personally, for films of this type, I prefer the old classic: Looking for Mr Goodbar.

I'm not a fan of Meg Ryan and I'm not convinced she was right for this role but I'm a big fan of Mark Ruffalo and he was great in his role (and very sexy!).Other reviewers have covered the storyline. There is a killer on the loose and Molloy (Ruffalo) and his partner are investigating. Frannie is a Teacher and Molloy comes to interview her. They have a connection and it's not long before they end up in bed together' (they both appear completely naked in the sex scenes and the sex talk is crude). However, Frannie doesn't know if she can trust Molloy. I liked Molloy's character but Frannie is a bit of a weird character and hard to understand. It definitely keeps you watching. I also read the book which has a different ending but I thought Jane Campion's direction was good and I preferred the films ending rather than the books.

I think it was poorly cast and lacked tension and momentum. Despite the horrific nature of the crimes and their proximity to the main characters I didn't realise the murder story line was important until near the end. It does relentlessly depict the vulnerability of women in a culture of pervasive male violence and threat though. It wasn't sexy, Meg Ryan is not sexy and I wish she'd brush her bloody hair.

Jane Campion, so assured and confident with "The Piano", is out of her depth with this film noir, improbable gumshoe detective plot. The two leads are unlikely as a hard bitten cop, not-fighting-lust for Meg Ryan's oh so sexually frustrated teacher - and we are never allowed to forget that she is, risible as it is, a frustrated spinster.Basic plot is, that once these two are thrown together, she spends the film trying to work out if he is innocent or a bloodthirsty murderer.At the end of the film I felt like screaming at her "none of this would have happened if you had just bothered to mention the tattoo to the good cop, and how the hell did you NOT notice that the bad cop had the identical tattoo?"It seemed to me that in trying out something new, the director instead trod a path between a gory Sin City type movie and something hysterical that almost tipped over the edge into satire. The teacher's weirdo ex-boyfriend requires an impossible suspension of disbelief, as does the incomprehensible, hulking black student, stipper half-sister, and the dismembered bodies and boundless gore. Instead of horror and pity I burst out laughing as Meg Ryan sits cuddling what is presumbably her sister's cut up remains in a bag and it has to be coaxed from her.Much hyped blow job scene over early on, although the film kept me watching (frequently from behind my hand), and certainly has a sexual frisson and some sustained tension, it falls down on its casting and ludicrous plot.

I must own up and say that the primary reason for buying this film was to get to see a sight of Ms Ryan's naked body. There, I have admitted it!I was also intrigued as to how she might make the transition from her more 'comedic' roles into ones more serious. She made a bad choice of films in which to bare her all!Suspense? Do me a favour, guv! The end was telegraphed loud and clear to anyone with a semblance of a brain. Like a say, the source material was the problem and Ms Ryan should have run a mile from the script.I wouldn't say that it was a waste of an hour and a half but it comes close.

Thoughtful, awkward, nice twists