Review of "In the Cut," DVD version

 Review of

In the Cut, DVD version

Four out of five stars

A thriller with uncertainty

While this movie has it’s center of the back chilling moments, the development of the plot puts forward more than one potential perpetrator and ends with what is likely, but not certainly, the death of the killer. Meg Ryan plays an English teacher (Frannie Avery) that may have witnessed a sex act between a woman and a murderer. She spots a small tattoo on the man’s wrist, and she uses that as evidence.

 However, there is no certainty that the man she saw committed the brutal murder and dismemberment of the woman. As a consequence of that murder, she encounters a homicide detective played by Mark Ruffalo. He is clearly a talented officer, yet a great deal of uncertainty is generated as to whether he is what he is supposed to be. When Frannie’s best friend is also killed and dismembered, there is a significant increase in the tension and uncertainty. Frannie reaches the point where she thinks that the Ruffalo character is the murderer. However, that does not stop her from having a sexual relationship with him.

 Some other potential suspects for the murders are put forward, including a crazed medical student and one of Frannie’s English students. Therefore, the climactic scene where a potential culprit is killed is executed with enough ambiguity so that the viewer is not really sure the right man was taken down.

 The performances of the main characters are very good, you sympathize with Frannie, yet at times find her actions annoying. Ruffalo is a bit subdued as a New York, which is the way it should have been played. Secure in his profession, he demonstrates a bit of uncertainty in his personal relationships. This is a movie where you will watch it again in an attempt to discern clues to solidify the conclusion as to guilt.