In the Cut

In the Cut

I've ummed and ahhed about watcing this since it was released. The Piano is up there in my top 5 favourite films, so I'm always interested in what else Campion has done, but the reviews of this were so hit and miss that I wasn't sure whether to take a punt on it.

This is famously the film that instigated the on air dispute between Brit legend Sir Michael Parkinson and Meg Ryan, as he quizzed her about the sexual nature of the film. I was wondering whether she had taken the playing-against-type theme a little too 'to heart' in this interview, as I'd not expected the loveable, doe-eyed, wide-smiling Ms Ryan to ever be so hostile in real life.

Reviews and comment have really laboured on that fact that this film is very sexual: a quick scan of IMDB reveals 2 articles entitled 'Meg Ryan in sadistic porn flick?' and 'Meg Ryan takes on naughty role'. Admittedly this may relate to the fact that the novel on which it is based seems more extreme than the film. But nonetheless - come on - I would never have concluded that the sex in In The Cut was any worse than many other similarly pitched films. Sure there is a graphic fellatio at the beginning but it doesn't trouble us particularly because it doesn't concern any of the leading characters. In fact we cannot even see the faces of the participants - what I'm saying is we have no emotional connection to the characters (or the actors) - unlike in, for example, The Brown Bunny. Other than that there is a sex scene between Meg Ryan's character Fanny and Mark Ruffalo's Detective Mulloy. It's a strange scene which cannot help but look like he is basically rimming her. However, in the context of their subsequent conversation, we realise that this was not the case. Apart from these scenes, 2 scenes where Ryan masturbates, and some petting, there really shouldn't be any raised eyebrows. I think it's probably more about the fact that it's Meg Ryan than anything else. Frankly i had a hard time dealing with both Ryan and Ruffalo playing completely against their romcom identities, but I think this is probably more about my perception of them, than their performances as actors.

The production team was a formidable female powerhouse - combining the producing talents of Laurie Parker and Nicole Kidman (her producing debut) with the writing talents of Susanna Moore and Campion, and the directorial skill of the latter. Consequently I thought this was a real opportunity to present a strong female character with depth. But I couldn't help but feel that it falls rather short. Fanny is resolutely austere, giving little away verbally or emotionally. It's implied she has a profound, intelligent side from her profession as a literature teacher, research into the culture of black slang and by the fact that - wait for it - she is moved at regular intervals by poetry displayed on the metro. These moments had to be the most cringeworthy of the film - perhaps just following Mulloy's rather surprising proposal to Fanny "If you want me to lick your pussy I can do it". I'm undecided whether it's the language or Kevin Bacon's overacting as a stalker ex-boyfriend which warrants more face scrunching.

There is nothing remarkable about the story - it's a thriller by numbers. I can't claim to have read the book but I'm aware that Moore, as the novelist and screenwriter of this work, has apparently completely changed the ending, rendering it much less powerful in the process. Maybe it was actually a sage economic decision that means that intrigued people like me will go out and buy the book now.

All in all the film was pretty much what I expected, which is something that I wouldn't watch again or recommend to a friend. Campion went back to directing shorts after 'In the Cut' - as a fan of her early shorts I need to check these out ASAP - but I will be looking forward to her most recent feature 'Bright Star' about the life of John Keats, which is currently in post-production. I hope that the shorts have taken her back to her roots and we'll some of the talent she displayed before the disappointment that was 'In the Cut'.