Rating: 
Summary: Are you kidding me?
Review: "Second-rate"?!?! You're joking right? Peter Sarsgaard is an amazing actor -- and in my opinion, the best thing about this film. This guy's range is huge.
Rating: 
Summary: REEL VIRTUAL SEX?
Review: ...Wayne Wang's notorious, controversial and explicit "CENTER OF THE WORLD" (Artisan) is a much more polished piece of work than "Romance." It also explores the bleak terrain of emotional isolation. This time the protagonist is a rich internet geek (Peter Sarsgaard) who literally contracts with a rock and roll drummer and part-time stripper (Molly (Parker) for a sexual get-away in Las Vegas. The phoniness of Vegas and the impersonal internet are more than metaphors for what amounts to virtual sex in real life. The basic elements are familiar in countless other love stories, but here the physicality of the two main characters dominates everything. In many ways we root for them to break out of their protective shells and actually connect with the hearts.
Sometimes the walls we build to keep out the bad cuts us off from life itself. This film, shot on high definition video, evokes a more personal and immediate response and is much more effective on DVD than it is projected in a theater. Longing for intimacy but in the grip of a fear of letting go leaves the main characters with only the option of exploring physical sensations as soulless
Rating:
Summary: Highly overrated...
Review: A faux gritty, anti-climactic indie flick playing off the erotic, obsessional themes found in "9 1/2 weeks", but nowhere near as stylized. Try "Leaving Las Vegas" and/or "Requiem for a Dream" for a more potent indie high. In short, one bored, pre-IPO, twenty-something Bill Gates overpays jaded lap dancer for a jaunt to Las Vegas. Geek scores, geek falls in love, lapper wrestles with guilt, geek's somewhat requited affection turns sour, as does the film. Not great, not terrible... placing this film squarely in the "rent first" category.
Rating:
Summary: Dysfunctional Relationship At Its Best
Review: A millionaire pays a stripper to spend a weekend with him in Vegas and they eventually (well, sort of) fall in love? If you are thinking "Pretty Woman", you couldn't be more off. "The Center of the World" is more reminiscent of "Leaving Las Vegas" with a hint of "Exotica", "Last Tango in Paris" and even some "In the Mood for Love". This movie starts off slowly and frequent flashback scenes are more than a little annoying at first, but it gets more and more interesting (and disturbing) as the story progresses. The cast is superb and the director Wayne Wang does his best Wong Kar-Wai imitation (and falls short, but hey, there is only one Wong Kar-Wai). The soundtrack is also excellent.For those of you who are concerned about the film's "unrated" status: yes, it contains a lot of sexually explicit scenes, but it's nothing you haven't seen before, and it's all done quite tastefully.
Rating:
Summary: Should be even bolder
Review: A terrific love story--damaged to some extent by the disinclination to explore the more optimistic possibilities of the realationship. An experience that torrid cannot be punctual--though the chosen ending suggests (pace the directors comments) some hope. (see alternative endings in DVD version) I hesitate to say this in view of the explicit nature of the film, but I contend that it could have pushed the line further. Molly Parker takes real risks in this film but I think she should have pushed harder. I believe that well crafted direction of a great deal of frank sexuality and powerful unsimulated "pornographic" forms of sexual intercourse would not have degraded this movie but illuminated it. Here real sex is would be an appropriate trope for the intensity of the characters transaction.
I also feel the film could have been longer and more fleshed out. There are certain nuances and plot explorations that need work.
Finally oddly enough I think this film should have a happy ending. One cannot walk away from such a transforming encounter and go on as before. The characters have a future ahead of them.
Rating:
Summary: the last tango in silicone valley
Review: basically a soft core porno movie with an interesting story...computer geek meets a stripper in a club...and becomes taken with her, so taken that he pays her 10,000 dollars to spend a weekend with him in vegas...without giving away the film, it was interesting to see how the protagonist's obsession with the model affected him througout the film,which it does deeply. the stripper is all business at first, but then she has some issues of her own that she has to work out...i especially love the actress that played the stripper..she has a very natural look, not artifical like some dancers are.
Rating:
Summary: A dialog heavy film about sex and love
Review: Borrowing a part of it's plot from 'Indecent Proposal', 'The Center Of The World' manages to be a sexually charged, and erotic film, one that may surprise some viewers because it was an American made movie. The deal is simple...Richard, a computer genius (Peter Sarsgaard) offers Florence, a struggling musician/stripper (Molly Parker) $10,000 to spend the weekend with him in Vegas, but before she says yes he must agree to her terms...no kissing, only meeting between the hours of 10pm and 2am, not getting personal and absolutely no falling in love. With these rules laid out in front of him Richard agrees even though he plans on making her love him. The story of Richard and Flo unfolds slowly, but as the characters are developed the viewer realizes the pair are searching for the same thing...love. Molly Parker gives an intimate performances of a woman looking to find herself, and get past her fear of intimacy, and Peter Sarsgaard does a great job as Richard, an empty young man looking to make his life complete. Although sexually explicit in spots (the lollipop scene must be seen to be believed) 'The Center Of The World' never becomes cheap or porno-ish. And bravo to Ms. Parker and Mr. Sarsgaard for being brave enough to take on roles that required them to be fully nude in several scenes. Anyone looking for a sex movie should look elsewhere, for the power of this film lies in it's two main characters. Those looking an artsy/erotic movie will enjoy this. Nick Gonnella
Rating: 
Summary: Potential not fully developed
Review: Center of the world certainly has a good premise. However the movie seems to favor explicit "eroticsm" over character development. when the film ended I kinda wished it was longer. I guess that's a good thing. But the reason why is that I didn't get to know these people. WHy is the guy such a social [misfit]? He being a computer whizz doesn't fully explain it. I thought some of the cutesy moments like her being a southern belle talking dirty in the bar, was a little forced. But over all I felt the film mainly wanted to titilate, with some sheens of artistry here and there. IT was a good movie more of a 2 and a half than a 2, but it didn't quite go the distance for me.
Rating:
Summary: "You create a frontier."
Review: Florence (Molly Parker) drummer by day and stripper by night meets computer geek & millionaire Richard Longman (Peter Sarsgaard). Richard abandons his computer screen and checks out Florence's act at Pandora's Box. He likes what he sees, and he offers Florence $10,000 if she will spend the weekend with him in Las Vegas. Florence, at first rejects the idea, but then presents a counter-offer with VERY strict rules of engagement allowing limited sexual favours between the hours of 10pm-2 am. A contract is literally drawn up, and Richard agrees--reluctantly--to abide by the rules. Florence packs her rubber dresses and her high heels, and the two head to Vegas and check into a sumptuous adjoining suite.
"The Center of the World" is a fascinating film, and it's most fascinating in its depiction and exploration of sexuality. Here we have two characters who attempt to create a contract regulating the limits. Richard clearly wants more than Florence is prepared to give him, and Florence is only comfortable 'performing' literally with music. It's a situation that's destined for trouble. And there's a sort of naked honesty and best of intentions here, but at the same time the characters struggle and fail to understand each other.
The character of Richard is a little overdone--the scenes with his takeout food containers and half empty pizza boxes emphasize that this is a man who has put his personal life on hold while pursing his career. But Florence is a truly great character--someone who can't be bought but someone who still wants to deliver Richard's money's worth. Ultimately, the film's message is that sex is a complicated thing--and definitely something that can't be regulated. All the contracts in the world don't cover feelings and complicated moral issues, and while the contract between Florence and Richard isn't exactly the normal state of affairs between human beings, nonetheless, the contract serves in a way, as the figurative contract assumed by any couple--in any relationship. It's always the fine print ...
"The Center of the World" far outclasses such tripe as the syrupy sweet "Pretty Woman" or the souped up romance "Indecent Proposal". Obviously this is a film for adults only, and due to the strong sexual theme, it's really reserved for those more tolerant of certain raw aspects of sexuality--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: Slow and Steady Lost the Race
Review: I found this movie to be pretty flat. I was expecting it to be a little more entertaining after reading other reviews. The characters were well done by the actors, but predictable. Also, the one scene that earned it an unrated listing (lollipop) could have been deleted without removing from the overall message of the movie. It is almost like Wang just wanted to see if he could make the first porn movie with a plot and had to sneak something in the movie that would push it past a standard R rating. I have seen worse films, but my time is too precious to have wasted it on this 88 minute snooze fest. It was too slow and depressing for me. But maybe that is what the lives of a "computer geek" and a "lonely stripper" are all about: a few minutes of excitement interspersed with hours of boredom and self-loathing.
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