I have often discussed with movie-goers whether it is possible to slice a single movie into parts to make statements like: "the director is very good, but the cast...oh my god", or "that screenplay rocked, but the editor was definitely having problems".
Well, this is it. "In the cut" I found the answer: yes. Some aspects of this movie are good, some other are not, as follows.
Thumbs up items from "In the cut":
1) The gorgeous titles, Jane Campion has always been extremely good at it. (See "Portrait of a Lady")
2) The visuals in general. Every scene is a treat for the eye, both in beautiful (e.g.: Jennifer Jason Leigh at the beginning) and in awful (e.g.: Meg Ryan in the end) circumstances. Again, Campion is a master.
3) The psychology of female characters. I think the movie provides a great insight of how a woman's mind can work (Let us all forget "What women want"). At least this is the impression that I get as a man. The most effective examples are the two sisters' dialogs and the love scenes. Well, Campion is a lady, after all!
Shortcomings "in the cut":
4) The psychology of male characters. Yes, Campion is all woman. Probably this movie provides another proof of the fact that Venus and Mars are very distant planets: there are four men playing some significant role, and none of them has more psychological depth than an ash tray. They are like dumb puppets filling the gaps between female characters' lines.
5) The "thriller" plot. After all, this movie is supposed to be a thriller. Well, from that point of view it simply fails. The final "oh my" revelation is simply silly. It makes sense "per se", but it doesn't match the high quality of the rest of the movie (I am always taking the assumption of slice-ableness of movies).
So, this movie is a so-and-so thriller, but it has many other qualities that make it worth a try.
Well, this is it. "In the cut" I found the answer: yes. Some aspects of this movie are good, some other are not, as follows.
Thumbs up items from "In the cut":
1) The gorgeous titles, Jane Campion has always been extremely good at it. (See "Portrait of a Lady")
2) The visuals in general. Every scene is a treat for the eye, both in beautiful (e.g.: Jennifer Jason Leigh at the beginning) and in awful (e.g.: Meg Ryan in the end) circumstances. Again, Campion is a master.
3) The psychology of female characters. I think the movie provides a great insight of how a woman's mind can work (Let us all forget "What women want"). At least this is the impression that I get as a man. The most effective examples are the two sisters' dialogs and the love scenes. Well, Campion is a lady, after all!
Shortcomings "in the cut":
4) The psychology of male characters. Yes, Campion is all woman. Probably this movie provides another proof of the fact that Venus and Mars are very distant planets: there are four men playing some significant role, and none of them has more psychological depth than an ash tray. They are like dumb puppets filling the gaps between female characters' lines.
5) The "thriller" plot. After all, this movie is supposed to be a thriller. Well, from that point of view it simply fails. The final "oh my" revelation is simply silly. It makes sense "per se", but it doesn't match the high quality of the rest of the movie (I am always taking the assumption of slice-ableness of movies).
So, this movie is a so-and-so thriller, but it has many other qualities that make it worth a try.