Have just returned from seeing Jane Campion's In The Cut, and I really liked it. This was not the overall consensus of my viewing buddies, so my recommendation only counts for me. But there was no clunk or clang or thud in any of what I saw, which is always nice. I had misgivings going into it because it is billed as a 'dark erotic thriller', so I had envisioned laborious attempts at mood whereby every mundane act was treated as a sexual signal, with 'frank' sex scenes that would weird me out a la Monster's Ball, whose major sex scene is fine and plausible, and major, which isn't troublesome in the least except for when its grunting interminability leaves you a little discomfited if your dad comes in from the gardening and sits down with you to watch it without any context, and it just keeps going and going so your mind just keeps yelling "Stop! Oh please stop!", you know? Anyway, In The Cut really impressed me. Mark Ruffalo is superb. And I found it to be a surprising film, but not in its denouement or anything [which I suppose counts as a strike against it because thrillers are supposed to, you know, make you tense with suspense]. The delight and surprise comes from the characters' interactions, particularly in the scenes between Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo. These are very satisfying because the characters are very specific and behave very specifically with one another. You get the sense that they don't behave like this with any other person. It's strong and personal and langourous and compelling and great, and its singularity thankfully happens without the hindrance of affected flourishes, of the "I am playing an individual" variety. They're also good when they're alone. Discounting the fact that each plot progression is no surprise [it's only a matter of evaluating who amongst the suspects has been the least conspicuously threatening, and who amongst the potential victims has all the hallmarks of a 'doomed' character] I think that In The Cut gives good nuance and sense of these people and their environment, and I enjoyed the words. I want someone to call me 'babe'.