You’d think that after taking a first glimpse at the script for this
film Meg Ryan would simply decline. Instead she takes the plunge on a film that
is very reminiscent of the gratuity in Showgirls when she should
simply stick to her romantic comedy ways. Her Demi Moore stunt did little for
her image and made her audience pity her throughout her mid-life crisis. No,
I do not enjoy watching Meg Ryan masturbate – come on people!
In The Cut is a mystery story that revolves around a killer
who chops up women’s bodies. In a round about way, Meg Ryan’s character,
Frannie, becomes closely involved with the investigation. Frannie lives in the
apartment building above where a girl was murdered and she meets a young detective,
played by Mark Ruffalo. It’s inevitable that romance ensues although Frannie
is worried that the detective may be involved in the case in many more ways
than one. Soon she doesn’t know what to think or who to believe yet she
does know that she lusts for lots of sex. Well that’s just great.
In the first scene, keep in mind that I am reviewing the “unrated”
DVD; we are subject to quite the viewing in the basement of a bar. Frannie stumbles
upon a man receiving some oral pleasure from a young woman (who we later find
out was the murdered girl) and yet instead of turning her head and walking away,
she stands there and proceeds to watch. So here we are watching this scene and
a lovely close-up shot of the male genitalia shows up – not sure whose
pee pee this is but I guess this would easily be considered the “unrated”
part. ** Beware – this is a hardcore porn scene of actual oral penetration
– I haven’t seen anything like this since the 2000 film Baise Moi
(Rape Me), the French failure of a commercial narrative/porno hybrid that universally
disgusted critics.
There are also some shots of Meg Ryan completely naked and Mark Ruffalo as
well. I know that my brother mentioned that Columbia Tri-Star should
use their “unrated” rating selectively and I’d have to say
that I’d definitely consider this DVD “unrated.”
My impression is that this story could have been done in a much different way
sans the dirty talk and sexual escapades. I mean, why not just get into making
soft porn videos? They are just as bad as this film. I think the reason for
putting in so many sex scenes was for the lack of a decent storyline. We all
know there is a twist coming at the end and we can see it coming miles away.
The film just seemed to end so abruptly and nothing about her father being an
ice skater was ever resolved. What’s up with that and why was that in
the story in the first place? I really feel as if there was no reason to make
this film. I really question Jane Campion’s reasoning behind this one.
It was interesting to hear Mark Ruffalo speak on one of the commentaries. I
know he didn’t mean for this statement to come out this way but it seemed
as if he only took this role because he’d been out of work for eight months,
didn’t think he’d ever act again, and jumped at the first thing
that came his way, even if it meant getting porny with washed-up Ryan.
Anyways, enough of my ranting, onto the special features: “Director and
Producer Commentary” – I didn’t bother listening to this one
but it’s all yours for the taking. “Making-Of Featurette”
– this feature was actually pretty cool. Meg Ryan’s hair color is
absolutely fabulous (all joking aside) and her makeup is incredible. She looks
hot but it’s easy to see that they lit her softly, erasing all the wrinkles
on her face making her look 20 years younger. These interviews with the cast
were very informative and Meg Ryan said that she basically wanted to veer from
her “good-girl” image and try something a bit risqué. Mark
basically said what I mentioned above and it’s clear that this was the
only thing to come floating by his desk in almost a year. Bravo. The next feature
is the “Slang Dictionary Featurette” and lastly the infamous theatrical
trailers.
When all is said and done, this is a soft-porn with very little substance and
both Mark Ruffalo and Meg Ryan should have passed on this one. Ryan is laughable
for her performance and it’s sad to see Ruffalo, who I deem as one of
the most talented actors around, stoop to this level of performance. Ruffalo
is a gem of an actor and It’d be disappointing if he continued to follow
this path – my words to him: “Deal without the paycheck and eat
Chinese take-out for a few months and wait till a script comes that knocks your
socks off, your talent is AT LEAST deserving of that much.” My final thoughts:
I hate watching a woman have a mid-life crisis on my tiny TV screen, skip this
DVD unless you want to see some nakedness, and then go ahead and check it out.
Otherwise, leave this one on the shelf.
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