In the Cut (2003)

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...

Director:

Jane Campion

Writers:

Jane Campion (screenplay), Susanna Moore (screenplay),

Stars:

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Meg Ryan, Micheal Nuccio

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Pauline
Meg Ryan	...	Frannie Avery
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 Ritchie Rodriguez
Heather Litteer	...	Angela Sands
Daniel T. Booth	...	Luther Wilker 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 Giovanni A. Malloy

Storyline

Following the gruesome murder of a young woman in her neighborhood, a self-determined woman living in New York City--as if to test the limits of her own safety--propels herself into an impossibly risky sexual liaison. Soon she grows increasingly wary about the motives of every man with whom she has contact--and about her own.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | new york | detective | police detective | professor | 

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Taglines:

Everything you know about desire is dead wrong.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Pathé [fr] Sony Pictures

Country:

Australia USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

En carne viva

Filming Locations:

7th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$239,152 (Japan) (2 April 2004)

Gross:

$239,152 (Japan) (2 April 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathe Productions, Pathé Pictures International, Red Turtle

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The unrated version is notorious for a scene where fellatio is witnessed by Meg Ryan's character, although it was later revealed in the film commentary that the actress was using a dildo.

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Goofs

A few seconds after Malloy has removed Frannie's panties, she is still wearing them (while he fondles her stomach).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pauline: What does "broccoli" mean"?
Frannie: Depends on the context. Pubic hair or marijuana. It's a noun.
Pauline: And "Virginia"?
Frannie: Vagina. As in, "He penetrated her Virginia with a hammer".

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Crazy Credits

There is a typo in the credits - 'transportation' is spelt 'tranportation' (missing the 's')

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: I Take Thee, Quagmire (2006)

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Soundtracks

"You're No Good"
by Clint Ballard Jr.
Performed by Betty Everett

User Reviews

A Cut Above

Meg Ryan gives what may well be the breakthrough performance of her career in 'In the Cut,' a violent, erotic thriller from maverick filmmaker Jane Campion. Ryan plays Frannie, a college English instructor who is instinctively drawn to the seamier side of life. When women in her Manhattan neighborhood start falling victim to a grizzly serial killer, Frannie, as a possible witness, becomes a prime source of interest, both professionally and personally, for a homicide detective named Malloy, who has some troubling sexual proclivities of his own to deal with. Attracted by his edgy darkness and smoldering sexuality, Frannie succumbs to his advances, fully cognizant of the possible danger he represents. Is the law enforcement official as much of a threat to this young woman as the psychopath going about town decapitating and dismembering the local ladies? It is this kind of moral ambiguity that informs the entire movie.

From the very outset, Campion makes it clear that we are not in for a conventional police procedural. She is obviously more interested in character and mood than in the niceties of a well-oiled plot and streamlined exposition. Frannie is far from being the helpless victim or plucky heroine one usually finds at the center of such tales; she is a complex, moody, taciturn woman who seems to be drifting passively through life, with little passion, conviction or purpose to make any of it worthwhile. Even when it comes to her sexual obsessions, it often feels as if she is just going through the motions. It is hard for us to get a bead on her, for she is a perfect reflection of the world she inhabits, a world without a clear moral compass - so much so that we often don't know what we are supposed to think of her or the other people with whom she comes in contact. The script plays up the sense of dislocation by having characters appear and disappear seemingly at random throughout the movie, sometimes serving as little more than red herrings for both the story and Frannie's life. This often makes it so that we in the audience feel clueless as to where exactly the film is headed and what the overall purpose of it really is. It's often hard for us to get our bearings, yet, it is this very ambiguity, this sense of being rudderless and confused, that lifts the film above the tired conventions of the genre. In fact, the film is at its weakest when it concentrates on the intricacies of the plot - the resolution is remarkably mundane - and at its strongest when it merely records the eccentricities and passions of its two enigmatic characters.

The sexual content of the film is highly charged but not overtly offensive, with one glaring exception, at least in the 'unrated' version (I assume this does not apply to the version released to theaters). Early in the film, we are treated to a graphic, hard core close-up of an act of fellatio that clearly is not simulated. Consider yourself forewarned.

Ryan has never been better than she is here. She plays Frannie almost as if she were one of the urban walking dead, just right for a modern woman who feels no real emotional connection with the world and the people around her.

Mark Ruffalo is excellent as the cop who may be more of a threat to Frannie than the killer who's terrorizing the area. Almost as an afterthought, Kevin Bacon makes little more than a cameo appearance, overacting in the role of Frannie's stalker ex-boyfriend.

'In the Cut' is a subtle little mood piece that is more about observing behavior than it is about searching for a killer. Those looking for an intensely plotted thriller may not be as intrigued by this film as those searching for a psychosexual character study. It's the atmosphere and the performances that count in this film.