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In the Cut (R, 2003)

common sense media says

Weak plot with grisly middle; should've been NC-17.

parents & educators say
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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie is very close to an NC-17. It has exceptionally explicit sexual references and situations and extremely strong language, including racist and homophobic comments. There's nudity, including scenes in a strip bar. The movie also has very grisly images including bloody body parts and blood-drenched rooms. Characters are killed. The movie includes a lot of smoking and drinking, including drunkenness.

Positive messages: Not applicable.
Violence: Graphic violence including very bloody body parts and murder scenes. Nightmarish stuff.
Sex: Extremely explicit sexual references and situations, including nudity.
Language: Extremely strong language including racist and homophobic comments.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: A lot of drinking and smoking, characters get drunk.
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More on In the Cut

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about the importance of Franny's story about how her parents got engaged. How did the director use the way the camera moved and the color schemes of the settings to help tell the story?

What's the story?

What's the story?
IN THE CUT centers on Franny (Meg Ryan), an English professor who is deeply moved by words. She drinks in the scraps of poetry on the subway placards. She writes down the latest slang terms she hears from her students. And when a police detective (Mark Ruffalo) comes to ask whether she saw anything on the night of a murder, she writes down a word he used to describe the body: "disarticulated." But she holds her own words in, communicating very little to anyone except for her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Franny and the detective begin an intensely charged affair, but they know very little about each other, and the very intensity in the midst of the investigation of a series of brutal murders makes them pull away from each other. Franny even begins to wonder whether the detective may be the killer. Threats loom all around her, including a needy ex-boyfriend (Kevin Bacon) and a student (Sharrieff Pugh) who seems interested in a much closer relationship.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Meg Ryan sheds more than her clothes in this would-be steamy thriller. She sheds her twinkle. We don't get the nose-wrinkling smile. No adorable befuddlement. No irresistible misting of the eyes. Unfortunately, that leaves her -- and us -- with not much of a performance. And unfortunately the script leaves us with not much of a movie.

Director Jane Campion uses arty tricks like a hand-held camera and a rust-colored cast to the settings to try to make the movie about something deeper, perhaps dreamlike, or nightmarish. But it just feels incoherent. The verbal and physical encounters that are supposed to be dark and sexy are just flat. Ryan can handle dramatic roles, as she showed in When a Man Loves a Woman and Flesh and Bone. But she does not have enough to work with in the affectless Franny. The story itself is just weak, with an especially dopey ending that seems grafted on from another movie.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Screen Gems
Director: Jane Campion
Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mark Ruffalo, Meg Ryan
Genre: Thriller
Run time: 119 minutes
Theatrical release: October 22, 2003
DVD release: February 9, 2004
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: strong sexuality including explicit dialogue, nudity, graphic crime scenes and language
This review was written by Nell Minow
 
 

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KoOkYMoNsTa234
adult
 
IN THE CUT- UNCUT UNRATED DVD EDITION
The version of the film IN THE CUT that I saw was the subtitled UNCUT UNRATED DVD EDITION which is basically an NC-17 rated version of the film. There is extremely explicit sexual interactions with movements and sounds. The book is not nearly as rude and even though I love the story I couldn't believe this.
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