October 2004
A View to a Thrill
IN THE CUT ***
Academy Award-winning director Jane Campion (
The Piano) brings to the screen the darker side of sex and the city in her latest cinematic offering,
In the Cut. The film’s title is street slang for sexual activity, but things begin innocently enough with a passionless female professor researching a book on slang. Shortly after the foreboding opening shots of New York City, however, the film quickly segues into the darkness of a bar at midday—the atmosphere soaked with sex and murder. Meg Ryan (
When Harry Met Sally) sheds her nice-girl image to play Frannie Avery, a woman discovering the kinky side of life when she meets Detective Malloy, played by Mark Ruffalo (
13 Going on 30), who is investigating a murder in her neighborhood. The relationship between the two intensifies as the body count climbs, and the tension builds as each character struggles to decide just whom to trust. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Frannie’s sister, who also inadvertently becomes entangled in the drama, and Kevin Bacon plays a thankless role as a nerdy psycho-stalker and possible suspect. Based on the best-selling novel by Susanna Moore, the film is a psychological thriller with some of the top female talent working in Hollywood today (Nicole Kidman turned down the main role to produce the film). Campion’s use of warped lenses demonstrates the blurred line between innocence lost and freedom found, and the sparse daylight is used to release some tension in an otherwise constant world of darkness and uncertainty. Meg Ryan’s performance is spectacular as she has never looked less pretty, nor more sexy. The end of the film could have been a little less predictable, and slightly more exciting, but overall it is a movie that keeps you guessing.
www.spe.sony.com/movies/inthecut
German Release Date (subject to change) October 1
US Rated R for strong sexuality, violence and language
SUSPECT ZERO ***
Another psychological thriller produced by a star actor (the uncredited Tom Cruise) this month is the gripping
Suspect Zero, which focuses more on mind games and murder than on sex. A string of seemingly unrelated murders are being perpetrated across the country and it’s up to FBI agent Thomas Mackelway to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. But Mackelway, played by Aaron Eckhart (
Erin Brockovich), is being haunted by his own secret past and taunted by the man who just might be the murderer. The suspect in question is the darkly intense Benjamin O’Ryan, played by the inimitable, Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley (
Gandhi). The film starts out as a typical thriller set-up of FBI agent versus genius killer, but then goes further to explore the inner workings of the crumbling mind as both protagonist and antagonist find themselves on the same side. Directed by E. Elias Merhige, who has taken on only three feature films since his directorial debut in 1991 with the controversial
Begotten, this film skillfully delivers tension and suspense while maintaining its creative edge. What doesn’t work in the film is the subplot of a forced romantic pairing of FBI agent Fran Kulok, played by Carrie-Anne Moss (
The Matrix), and her ex-partner/ex-lover, Mackelway. She’s unnecessarily hard and crass at the beginning of the film, but suddenly becomes compassionate and understanding near the end. Otherwise the performances are strong and the special effects dizzying, as we follow the unraveling of minds in a desperate pursuit to save lives.
www.suspectzero.com
German Release Date (subject to change) October 14
US rated R for violent content, language and some nudity
New release on DVD
BIG FISH ***
If you’re looking for a film with a lot less blood and a few more tugs on the heart, then
Big Fish may be something you fancy renting on DVD this month. Directed by the illustrious Tim Burton (
Sleepy Hollow), the story explores the magical life of a man named Ed Bloom (played alternately by Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor), who was bigger than life itself. Or at least the stories he told about his life were. His introverted son, Will Bloom (
Billy Crudup), wants the truth about his father’s past and returns to visit his father as he lies on his deathbed. As can be expected with Burton’s work, this is no ordinary tale. The story is told in retrospect, somewhere within that gray yet colorful area between fact and fiction. It’s a difficult thing to pull off cinematically, and sometimes the film falters a bit, but it’s ultimately a beautiful tale of genuine and lasting love despite the difficulties that reality puts in its way.
www.sonypictures.com/movies/bigfish
German Release Date (subject to change) October 12
US rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content
