2003 Rank 'em as you see them

[Chris Knipp]

I have to admit that I approached "In the Cut" with suspicion, Nonetheless I truly wanted to like it, and I tried to. It's certainly not just a cop flick. It creates a very unusual atmosphere in some ways, and the look, though too self-conscious, does succeed in being different. Mark Ruffalo is usually interesting, and he doesn't disappoint. He is exactly what's called for: a homicide detective, but with a dangerous sexy edge. Meg Ryan does disappoint: she's just drab, and we can't see the intelligence the story seems to want her to have. There is no real interest in the character she creates. And Jennifer Jason Leigh is frumpy to the point of being downright repulsive. She's usually over the top and this is no exception. The ending is tacked on and unbelievable. There's too much cop stuff for a psychological study and too much psychological study for a suspenseful slasher murder story. (You make this clear, Oscar, when you say you like their conversation but wish it were in something other than a slasher mystery: well, it is what it is.) The result is an interesting failure, but still a failure: one can understand why the word "mess" has been used a lot in describing the movie by critics. Mike Lasalle's adulatory review is unconvincing. He talks himself into his high praise with a lot of unfounded and off-the-wall generalizations about life that have little to do with this movie, or any movie. I''m not ambivalent about "In the Cut." I don't like it. I'd only advise people to watch it for Mark Ruffalo's performance and one or two tiny moments that are fresh, like when the bouncer comes on to Ryan's hunky student.

"Elephant," however, is poetic and magical--and its finale is terrifying, shocking and indigestible, just like the real event. I admit that I expected to like it, just as I feared I wouldn't like "In the Cut." But I didn't know how complex and unique "Elephant" would seem in retrospect. I hope there will be some discussion of it. I started a thread on it, but I guess it's not "open wide" yet though it came to Berkeley last Friday and I pounced.


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