Rating: 
Summary: Film with a literary rush up a creepy learning curve
Review: I read the book years ago, when it was not my usual reading material, the place I bought the book might even be considered trashy, but it was new, I wanted something hot, and *irony* was a word that it used on the first page in an interesting fashion. The more I read, the more I kept looking for humor, and the more humor I found. My hearing is not great, so some noisy movie scenes in the subway might have had whispering women's voices saying things to each other like, "That man--he's a trisexual," a comment that was overheard on a train in the book. I didn't hear it when I saw the movie today, but a lot of things in the movie reminded me of the book. The subway cars actually had excerpts from poems, instead of just ads above the windows, and the main character is an English teacher who is as interested in words as in the book. Being bombarded with romantic messages helps move the plot along at a nice clip.Being a teacher is an aspect of her character that is emphasized so much, most of the minor characters seem to be trying to get the part of teacher's pet. The most ironic moment in the movie for me was watching a hyper, stressed Kevin Bacon play a character that asks her if she could take care of his dog, since he has to be at the hospital 18 hours a day as an intern (he used to be an actor playing a doctor in a soap opera, so he decided to become one). The request is as psychotic as any student trying to get his teacher to take a pet off his hands, if not more so. Who wouldn't feel morbid if a teacher asked, "When are you going to put the dog down?" If you can't tell what Kevin Bacon would think, go see the movie and he'll tell you. I shouldn't be giving away so many high points, but the effort to solve some serial murders seems to be creepy enough that it might even involve using the teacher as bait. If the detective was trying to use the teacher as bait to get enough circumstantial evidence to convict the killer, the movie is almost as crazy as if the killer would have gone after her anyway. Reading the book, the teacher seemed to be as clueless as the reader until the evidence takes the form of fear which must be more real than fake. This is a frightful movie, and the squeamish might be squirming through messy parts in the beginning, middle and end, but the end makes more ideas, themes, and things fit together and fall into place on this movie's learning curve than would be likely in real life. So many scenes were thrown together too quickly for comfortable cogitation, but the really great scenes come back later to be perfectly explanatory. Though the silent scene on the skating pond in which the teacher's father proposed to the teacher's mother (and gave her a ring) is initially far removed from the main plot, the final recap of that pond scene is chilling in a frightening way, providing an unexpected emotional parallel to the main story.
Rating:
Summary: OMG: Meg Ryan as you've NEVER seen her before!
Review: I just came back from watching this movie about an hour ago and wanted to write a review while it's still fresh in my mind. Before anything else, let me just say, Meg Ryan's performance is SPECTACULAR! It's nothing short of breathtaking. I think this is the performance of her career. Ryan boldly sheds her previously earned image as "Amercia's Sweetheart", and completely reinvents herself for this movie. This time, Ryan plays a quiet, sullen, reserved inner city schoolteacher; her character is a contradiciton, introverted and subdued yet at the same time just SEETHING with dark, delicious, pent-up sensuality. I mean, if you're a heterosexual male, you just GOTTA see her! Dayam! Ryan's character "Frannie" is complex and multifaceted, as is the film; it was a risk, but it works. As Eber said, Ryan's performance is utterly flawless. It by itself is completely worth the price of admission, and will direct all attention away from any inadequacies in the plot :-) Okay, Meg Ryan aside, the movie was a solid thriller that kept me guessing all the way to the end. The obligate murders are gruesomely described, but actual gore on screen is kept at a tasteful minimum. The plot at times border on derivative and uninspired for this genre, but by and large it was tight enough to serve as an adequate vehicle for Ms. Ryan to burn the screen with her presence. (I know, I promise to stop ranting about her). Director Jane Campion did an outstanding job with the cinematography and the general feel of the film. For example, the camera is deliberately out of focus around the edges during certain scenes, giving the film a surrealistic, dreamy yet visceral feel. Again, this was a risk that surprisingly worked for me. Symbolism in the film is rich and beautiful, especially the poetry written on the subway train walls, read by Ryan's sultry voice in her mind. And finally, I'd just like to mention that Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is also a dangerously skilled actress (just watch "Single White Female" or "Washington Square") was tragically underused in this film. At her best, Leigh is every bit as good an actress as Ryan, but she simply wasn't given the chance to shine in this movie. For the role of Frannie's sister Pauline, a lesser actress would have done the job, which could have been done instead of wasting Leigh's precious time :-) But I'm still always glad to see her on screen as well. In closing, if you're even remotely a fan of Meg Ryan, go see this film now! Don't wait, do it now! You WON'T be disappointed. Oh man, Meg Ryan will be in my dreams tonight... ;-)
Rating: 
Summary: The big question: Do you like Jane Campion films?
Review: In the Cut is only for those who adore Jane Campion's creations. This film should have never been released to the general movie audience. It is meant for the so-called intellectually elite cappuccino crowd willing to pretend that they enjoy endless Freudian style dialogue. Campion's forte is the making of movies where women get in touch with their sexuality. The now 41 year old Meg Ryan is obviously desperate to abandon her previous good girl roles. Not only does she appear nude, but Ryan engages in a number of simulated sexual scenes. In the Cut is borderline pornography. Sigh, why do so many actresses approaching middle age opt to put themselves through all this abuse? Is keeping together a career that important? Campion, however, must be credited with putting together a visually beautiful work. This murder mystery concerns a perpetrator who obviously has unresolved sexual issues. Only attractive young women are selected to be dismembered. All the men in Frannie Avery's (Meg Ryan) life are strange to say the least. This woman is a magnet for every weirdo in the neighborhood. Even her soon to be lover Detective James Malloy (Mark Ruffalo) seems capable of psychotic mayhem. An actress who never disappoints, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is splendid as a loser who finds love in all the wrong places. Kevin Bacon portrays a guy who requires a lot of therapy. Unfortunately, never for a moment do we believe that Frannie would have given this over-the-top character the time of day. In the Cut needed to be shortened by about ten minutes. The pace is far too slow. I can only give it 3 1/2 stars. Jane Campion is too heavy handed with the theme of sexuality. A lighter and more subtle approach would have have been more appropriate.
Rating:
Summary: IGNORE THE CRITICS AND SEE IT
Review: "In the Cut" is a VERY [good] movie that continues some of the themes Jane Campion explored in "The Piano" (my favorite movie ever) about what women want and how they come to trust men. The central plotline about Meg Ryan's and Mark Ruffalo's characters is really intriguing... she's very attracted to him, but doesn't trust him. He's almost the perfect man -- handsome, confident, and extremely good in bed -- except oops, he might be a brutal serial killer of women. Not unlike Harvey Keitel's character in "The Piano" (except Mark Ruffalo is indisputably hot) -- he's clearly the man who can save Holly Hunter's life and make her happy, but there's a lot to get through before she can accept that. "In the Cut" is set in a pretty realistic, gritty version of NYC, and Frannie's dilemma is a logical extension of what it would be like to be single in a big city -- how would you know that you could really trust any man you might meet? The finale is a real nail-biter -- though you've figured out how it will probably end, and you know it will be really satisfying, the last ten minutes are pretty excruciating as you wait for those events to unfold. The only flaw I could find in this film is an excessive use of Dogme-style handheld camera work. Meg Ryan does a fine job, Jennifer Jason Leigh is good as her half-sister (they have a very intimate ... relationship), and Kevin Bacon provides welcome comic relief as a creepy guy who can't stay away from Frannie. Ignore the critics and see this movie... particularly if you are a fan of Jane Campion's films, of Mark Ruffalo, or of films that explore the complex emotions and ... desires of women.
Rating: 
Summary: AN EROTIC "THRILLER" WEIGHED DOWN BY ITS OWN DEBAUCHERY
Review: "In the Cut" is an excruciating "erotic thriller" (or that's what it was at least going for) about a college professor who becomes involved with a New York City homicide detective investigating a string of grisly murders. Would have been great to see Meg Ryan change her chick-flick love-comedy stereotype for something more meaningful, but this unnecessarily coarse script isn't it. Not even with the same stylish visual rubric that "The Piano" was wrapped in (same director.) Sadly, helped by an unremittingly cheerless script, this urban-noir tale suffocates under the weight of its own self-importance. Sleaze does not make substance, and outright lewd banality cannot be shrugged off under pretense of faux weightiness -- the obvious poverty of this script is still evident through the liberal dose of raunchy sex scenes and pretentious dialogue. May be a worthwhile rental, but I wouldn't cancel any plans for it.
Rating:
Summary: Very riviting, dark and exciting
Review: Watching Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo is worth the price of admission. It is a dark tale with sad people, but it is spellbinding and the performances of these two people are extraordinary. He is so dangerously sexy and she is not like anything we have ever seen in her before. In many scenes she looked like Nicole Kidman who was originally slated for the role and is credited as one of the producers. The book was complicated and Jane Campion does a very good job of bringing it to life.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Thriller From an Acclaimed Director
Review: To be honest, I kind of thought the movie was going to be bad (I didn't like the book), but I went to see it anyway, since I learned that Jane Campion was the director. Having seen and loved her "Angel at my Table," "The Piano," and "Holy Smoke," I was interested in finding out why exactly this independent New Zealand director left Australia and went, so to speak, "Hollywood." Well, it turns out that Campion was only doing a favor for Nicole Kidman, who was going to play the lead role (Nic decided against it later on, and became one of the executive producers instead). The film itself is gorgeous to look at, although the camera work is a bit shaky, and there are like... hundreds of meaningless close-ups that can drive you totally crazy. And guess what, Meg Ryan DOES take her top off (if you're interested in that sort of thing). But this movie is also very violent and brutal; I heard it almost got an NC-17 rating (our censors cut out a seven-minute chunk of footage with most shocking sex and violence and rated the film R). Basically, the story is about a somewhat attractive English teacher named Franny (played by Ryan), who suddenly finds herself in the middle of a police investigation when a girl is found murdered near her house. The lead detective working on the case meets and talks to her, and she's instantly attracted. Then, to make things even more complicated (as if the sexually unruly relationship between her and the police officer wasn't enough), Franny remembers that she saw the dead girl somewhere before. The story is quite interesting, though the ending is fairly simple and predictable. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who loves "romantic thrillers," but don't expect much from it. The acting is excellent (especially Ryan's), the cinematography is beautiful, the music is good, and the plot won't make you wanna yawn, and that's the important thing.
Rating:
Summary: new look for the pair of blue eyes
Review: though the film is not yet out for public release, and i do not belong to that privileged group of the press, but i've read that the pair of blue eyes that have enchanted many of us, plucking up many of us from the dark nooks to suny side of life is at last leading the role of a lady trapped in the darkness of the manhattan! THAT'S not encouraging but she deserves a great cheer for coming out of her long drawn up sweety image to play a really challenging role, in a definitely challenging way. let's see what the promising director has kept for us in surprise.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing
Review: I only got this film because I am a Meg Ryan fan. I really didn't even know what it was about. The first time I watched it I was shocked to see Meg Ryan in this role. Then I thought about it the next day and watched the interview and director's cut. I went back and watched it again. I was mesmerized by the story - forget the gruesome murders, but focus on the deep needs between Frannie and Malloy. The third time I watched it I focused on Malloy. For such a tough cop, no apologies, he was incredibly sensitive and romantic. The character of Malloy was intrigued and attracted to Frannie from the beginning. It was actually remarkable the third time around to see how much he cared for Frannie.
I loved this film. I really can set aside the sick murders and focus on the sexual tension and relationship between Frannie and Malloy. I can't seem to get their relationship out of my mind. The director Jane Campion really touched me through these two characters and their lust, love, loss and most of all their needs for each other.
I would hope that people would watch this film a second time to really catch the subtleties. I am now a fan of Mark Ruffalo and am looking forward to seeing his other works. He is a brilliant actor. It was really refreshing to see Meg Ryan explore this type of character. Even the "good girl" has sexual desires and fantasies that need to be explored
Rating:
Summary: Hated the book
Review: Because I hated the book, I was curious to see how they would make it into a film. Then I learned Jane Campion was directing, and was intrigued. Halfway through, I still wasn't impressed, but I waited. There is a quiet beauty to the film. The way Campion captures small details, like the way the protagonist would see them. I think it would have been horrible if it was completely true to the book. The additions are what make this film. The poetry in the subway. The garden outside her window. Meg Ryan playing against type. Mark Ruffalo is wonderful in his role, not giving the end away. And I loved the ending. I felt unresolved at the end of the book, and this ending made me happy.
This movie is not for everyone. There is a lot of gore, and violence, and sex, but I think it was done well. But, I think attention was payed to the important things in the character's life. In some ways, I like it more every time I see it.
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