Delayed Reaction: In the Cut

Premise: A woman has an affair with a detective who is investigating a murder near her.

 

I didn’t know much about this movie before I saw it, and I still don’t. I mostly think of it as that movie that Meg Ryan got really naked in and that torpedoed her career for some reason. On both accounts, that’s unfair. It’s not like it’s the first time she ever got naked in a movie. She may have had an “America’s Sweetheart” reputation, but she was hardly a nun for her career. As for her career fortunes, In the Cut was just one in a series of missteps. Kate & Leopold and Against the Ropes before and after In the Cut hardly helped matters. While I do think it’s often overstated how few roles there are for actresses of a certain age, it does seem like Meg Ryan turned 40 and Hollywood no longer had any interest in her. Which is a shame.

 

Anyway, I opted to watch this after Jane Campion’s latest film, The Power of the Dog, made a great impression. I haven’t seen her entire filmography, but I’m definitely noticing some trends like nudity (across gender lines). She also seems to be big on telling crimes stories that aren’t that interested in the crimes. They are really character studies that have a crime for some plot structure. Top of the Lake was like that too. I find it a little disorienting. In a good way, I think.

Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo are good in this as two people who are pretty bad for each other. Ryan’s performance is interesting, because while it feels like it’s such a departure for her, it’s really not. We remember her for the RomComs, but at the same time she’d done movies like Courage Under Fire and When a Man Loves a Woman that dirtied her up. It’s also a nice reminder that Jennifer Jason Leigh didn’t just disappear from 1994 to 2009.

 

I know the movie needed some kind of plot, but I think I preferred everything in the movie not tied to the murders. I’d rather just watch 2 hours of Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo observe the world. I’m not sure how that would work, but I like the challenge.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend