In the Cut | AccessAtlanta

In the Cut

A writer becomes involved with the man investigating a murder ... until she begins to suspect him.

FILM FACTS

Starring: Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo
Director: Jane Campion
Rating: R for sex, nudity, language and violence
Genre: Drama, Thriller

Official movie site

See showtimes (R) 118 minutes

Grade: B-

Verdict: An intense character study uneasily hung on a thriller framework.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Describing “In the Cut” as a thriller about a serial killer in lower Manhattan is like calling “Taxi Driver” a movie about the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate.

Director Jane Campion (“The Piano”) deals in moods, not plots. Her least successful films are ones like “The Portrait of a Lady,” in which plot is a necessary intruder. In her new picture, plot provides the mechanism that throws the characters together, but Campion treats it as an afterthought.

Based on Susanna Moore's 1995 novel, “In the Cut” unfolds in a dreamy, dislocated daze. In a sense, it's a Rorschach test of what it's like to be single, 40ish, female and living alone in New York City.

Frannie (Meg Ryan) is just such a woman. A writing teacher who's intoxicated by words, her solitary life is occasionally interrrupted by a date (an unbilled Kevin Bacon is wonderful as a rejected lover) or by her slightly slutty sister, Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh in the Jennifer Jason Leigh role).

All that changes when a severed female hand is found in Frannie's garden. Someone is hacking women into pieces and strewing their body parts around the city. The case brings detective Malloy (Mark Ruffalo) to her door, routinely asking routine questions. Until he asks her out.

Malloy scares Frannie. Not just because of his blunt sexuality and coarse vulgarity, but also because she fears he himself may be the killer.

Ryan would make a fine Hitchcock heroine. She has the blondeness and, in this movie, the neurotic tension. No wonder Campion plays “Que Sera, Sera,” the syrupy Doris Day hit from Hitchcock's “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” under the opening credits. Except, this version is discordant and unsettling.

However, “In the Cut” has none of Hitchcock's tautness and humor. Drifting through the elementary whodunit plot, the movie can be as lank as Frannie's bangs, as harsh as a blaring car horn. Still, there's an underlying apprehension that gives the film a jittery feel, and occasional hot flashes of vivid color — the blood-drenched crime scenes or the strident neon of the Baby Doll Lounge, the bar on the ground floor of Pauline's apartment building.

Best known as Laura Linnney's ingratiating but irresponsible brother in “You Can Count on Me,” Ruffalo is less boyish here, more filled out. He's completely credible as a macho cop whose sexual confidence borders on hostility toward women. The actor expertly orchestrates a delicate balance between hard-line masculinity and potentially psychotic behavior.

Many critics have carved Ryan to pieces, echoing the movie's killer. She was even hissed at the Toronto Film Festival. The implication is, how dare a lightweight try a serious dramatic role. Obviously, she must be hunting for an Oscar nomination.

She may well be, but that doesn't negate the bravery of her performance. Appearing plainly pretty and masking her trademark adorableness, Ryan adapts the demeanor of a woman who doesn't want to be seen, the ironic attitude of someone who keeps people at bay. She understands how, for Frannie, crowded Manhattan is the easiest place in the world to be alone. How the constant crush validates anonymity.

For her part, Campion knows hell is in the details. Post-Sept. 11 flags mournfully drape the sides of buildings. A stripper casually sprays her pole with disinfectant before performing.

That cold matter-of-factness matches Campion's tone. She really doesn't care if we get inside Frannie's skin. Nor does she care much about the killer's identity. She just wants us to watch.