The acclaimed New Zealand director Jane Campion (THE PIANO) turns her unusual artistic eye toward the urban erotic thriller genre. Based on the novel by Susanna Moore, IN THE CUT tells the story of Frannie (Meg Ryan) an English teacher living in Manhattan's East Village who finds herself mixed up in a homicide investigation after a severed head turns up in her garden. Jennifer Jason Leigh is her sexually unhinged half-sister and Mark Ruffalo plays a homicide detective who falls into bed with Frannie after she's attacked on the Lower East Side. Suspects include her stalker ex-lover (Kevin Bacon) and a troubled student (Sharrieff Pugh) who's obsessed with serial killer John Wayne Gacy. As the body count rises however, Frannie realizes that the prime suspect just may be the very cop in her bed.

If this all sounds like a by-the-numbers sex crime thriller don't worry; Campion twists the genre towards her own ends, adding multi-layered focus, deeply saturated colors, a dream-like mood and copious amounts of feminist allegorical symbolism. Meg Ryan fans should be shocked by her performance here (replete with several nude scenes), which is a major departure from her usual cute characterizations. Nicole Kidman, who starred in Campion's PORTRAIT OF A LADY served as producer. Fans of that film, and Campion's work in general, should enjoy the perverse psychosexual theatrics on display in this grim urban fairy tale.

Theatrical Release: OCTOBER 22, 2003 (NY/LA)
OCTOBER 31, 2003 (EXPANDS)

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Widescreen
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary - 1. Jane Campion - Director
Trailers
Featurettes - 1. Making Of
2. SLANG DICTIONARY

Meg Ryan: American Actress, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993)
Mark Ruffalo: Actor
Kevin Bacon: Omnipresent American actor, FOOTLOOSE/MYSTIC RIVER
Jennifer Jason Leigh: American Actress, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE
Sharrieff Pugh: Actor, IN THE CUT (2003)

Jane Campion: Nz Director/In Australia

Nicole Kidman: Actress, TO DIE FOR
Laurie Parker: 

Jane Campion: Nz Director/In Australia
Susanna Moore: Source Writer, IN THE CUT (2003)

Hilmar örn Hilmarsson: SCORE COMPOSER\ICELAND

"...IN THE CUT unspools as a graceful, sinewy thriller in more ways than one....Fascinating stuff then, superbly played by Ryan and Ruffalo..."
"...[With] images and ideas that stick like splinters under your skin..."
"...Astonishingly beautiful..."
"...Beautifully crafted...highlighted by an arresting change-of-pace perf by Meg Ryan..."
"...Provocative and complex....Finely wrought..."
"...It's terrifically entertaining..."
"[A]ll of this is well done..."