In the Cut / Trapped Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

In the Cut / Trapped Blu-ray Movie Review

In the trap.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 22, 2013

In the Cut
Score: 3.0/5.0

In the Cut pushes boundaries so far that audiences might understandably lose track of the plot details in favor of the abundance of sexual heat and steamy eroticism that darkly -- not at all deliciously -- seep through every celluloid pore. That'll both lose some viewers and gain others, pushing away those who don't want borderline hardcore pornography in their cinema and attracting those who aren't so much titillated by the visuals but rather spellbound by the rawness of the encounters and the daring of the film to display them in such detail. To be sure, the sex in the film lacks intimacy. It's all about the moment, the pleasure, the outward feeling, the inner need, the animalism that's revealed when two attracting people allow their instincts to lead them. Through the prism of sex, In the Cut crafts a movie about dark impulses, fear, and murder, comparing and contrasting love and lust, want and need, and controlled and uncontrollable instincts and desires that, when acted upon, can yield both incredible pleasure and unbearable pain. This isn't a movie for some -- maybe even many -- but those willing to journey down a terribly dark and uneasy road paved with blood and raw carnal pleasures will find much to love in In the Cut.

Frannie Avery (Meg Ryan) is an aspiring writer-slash-high school English teacher. While tutoring a student off-campus, she witnesses an act of oral sex in the basement of the site. She later runs into Detective Giovanni Malloy (Mark Ruffalo) who is canvasing her building and wanting answers to questions about the severed head that's been discovered in her garden. It doesn't take long -- and with a little nudging and support from Frannie's half-sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and post-traumatic support after Frannie is attacked on the street -- for the two to begin a torrid affair. Their sex is frequent, raw, and as much verbal as it is physical. Meanwhile, severed bodies continue to appear around town. The investigation grows more distant but also seems to be inching closer to home. As Frannie continues her sexual relationship with Malloy, she comes to believe that there may be more to the detective than an unquenchable lover and a seeker of justice.

Director Jane Campion (The Piano) succeeds in making In the Cut both an unmistakably stylish and relentlessly raw experience. It's a picture that's very well made and darkly alluring but at the same time rather difficult to watch. It's emotionally dark -- significantly so, at times -- and the unflinching display of unrestrained sexual contact against the grisly backdrop of brutal murder that both begins the Frannie Avery-Detective Malloy affair and comes ever-closer to it makes for a jarring contrast that helps define the dark avenues the picture explores. There's an almost surreal texture to the movie. It's so bold and dramatically gritty that it all seems to run together, at times, which seems to be the point. There's a fairly basic whodunit at film's core, but that seems only to serve as a vessel for the deeper human exploration through terribly disturbing character portraits. Nothing about the film is restrained -- not the language, not murderous aftermath, not the sex, and certainly not the dark, raw, unforgiving emotions -- and it's a difficult watch. Be prepared.

For as much as the film does well, it's impossible not to see in it a darker spin on Basic Instinct, Director Paul Verhoeven's disturbing masterpiece of sexually fueled manipulation and murder. The parallels are clear: murder brings together a hardened male cop and a female writer (who also teaches school, in this case). There's plenty of steamy sex, including choice shots of genitalia (detailed fellatio and all the accompanying visuals are intact in this unrated cut). Sexual symbolism and raw desire run rampant. Yet despite the similarities, this is no Basic Instinct. For as steamy, willing, and convincing Ryan and Ruffalo may be, they lack the unmissable chemistry of Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. The plot isn't as alluring, but then again In the Cut builds up a significantly darker atmosphere, even if the basic elements remain largely the same. However, Campion's film does lack the more thorough and natural character development of Basic Instinct. The peripheral plot elements don't hold up as well as they do in Verhoeven's film, either. In Instinct, everything feels tied together. In In the Cut, there's a sense that the murders are but a frame for the darker human exploration. Both are with merit and both are worth the compare-and-contrast exercise, but Verhoeven's film is likely to come out on top in most direct comparisons.

Smile now, just wait...

Trapped
Score: 3.5/5.0

Kidnappings and ransoms and double-crosses and inescapable situations are all hallmarks of the standard Thriller, but they're all kicked up a couple of notches in Director Luis Mandoki's (Born Yesterday) Trapped, an entertaining and reasonably good adaptation of the Greg Iles novel, 24 Hours. Iles' book is a fast read and a rather intense one at that. Both the book and its counterpart film expertly shuffle together all of the genre clichés into a firm and spirited tale of a very well-conceived kidnapping that becomes unraveled and reforms as a complex organism shaped by two opposing forces, neither willing to give an inch but both ready to sacrifice everything in the name of victory. In the middle is a sickly young girl, the necessary pawn caught in the midst of a dangerous game in which one side comes in prepared and the other blindsided. It's a story of adaptation, of outthinking and out maneuvering the opposition, about the battle for supremacy and the fate of a child whose life depends on the fastest thinker rather than the one holding the weapon, and seemingly, all the cards.

While mother Karen (Charlize Theron) and daughter Abby (Dakota Fanning) enjoy a beautiful lakefront home, father Will (Stuart Townsend) flies to an important medical conference where he'll be introducing a powerful new sedative of his own design. Soon after he departs, Abby is kidnapped. She's taken to a secluded cabin. Karen is confronted by Joe (Kevin Bacon) and is informed that unless he calls his cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince) every thirty minutes, Abby will be killed (better hope the cell towers remain online). His demand: $250,000. Meanwhile, Will is taken hostage in his hotel room by Joe's wife, Cheryl (Courtney Love). As the night plays out, the kidnappers learn that Abby is a sickly child who may not survive the night. As the struggle for her life and Joe's money ensues, a battle of wits explodes into a dangerous display of daring and one-upmanship that's sure not to end well for one side or the other.

Trapped doesn't dance around its story or lighten the burden of its dramatic load. It takes only the obligatory minutes to introduce audiences to the characters and family dynamic before breaking into a full-on one-hundered minute sprint towards the finish line. It's a movie with attitude and an unnerving story. It's intense and reinforced by quality performances that command the screen in every scene. The film is like a seesaw, with opposing sides on either end and the balance of power constantly shifting from one to another. Traditional "upper hands" prove futile; the whispered promise of a girl's death holds more clout than the promised deafening report of a revolver. The story always finds new ways to surprise and alter not the course of the story but rather the path the characters take towards the end. Even while the final act devolves into more of a standard action sequence rather than maintain the delicate drama and character antagonism that shapes the bulk, Trapped nevertheless proves a satisfying ride down familiar territory reworked into a rather fresh and intense picture.

Director Luis Mandoki mostly sits back and allows his actors to operate, his camera used only to soak up the raw emotions and frantic ups-and-downs that shape the film. The picture focuses on three groups, three one-on-one dynamics each with their own flavor but all integral to the story. The primary conflict, and the film's most dramatically satisfying, comes from the Kevin Bacon-Charlize Theron pair. Theirs is the darkest, the most brutal, the one that defines the rest of the film and in which the film finds the bulk of its conniving, shifting advantages, and spitfire drama. On the other end of the spectrum is the far more serene but perhaps most fundamentally disturbing, the matching of Pruitt Taylor Vince and Dakota Fanning, the childlike adult versus the more adult-like child who don't so much engage in a battle of wits but seem more content to wait one another out, Fanning's character a little more likely to attempt something but still, together, they're the offset of the more basically brutal and ever-flowing kinetic relationship that grows between Karen and Joe. The Stuart Townsend-Courtney Love pairing is the film's most balanced, with equal parts heavy action and gentle drama. It's on this relationship, and on these actors, that the film must depend to bring all others full-circle. All three are very well realized and strongly acted; Trapped may tell a rather good story made out of spare parts, but it's the cast dynamics that really push it onto another level.

In the Cut / Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

In the Cut
Score: 3.5/5.0

In the Cut's high definition transfer isn't the easiest to assess. The film is largely defined by a unique appearance that plays with excess warmth, soft-to-smeary edges, low light, shaky handheld, and other off-the-beaten-path stylistic choices. It's not the most immediately attractive picture, but the dark, diverse appearance suits the film's dramatic tone quite well. That said, there's a variance in overreaching quality; brighter exteriors offer some well-defined details -- skin, clothes, and raw city textures -- but the more drab, light-deprived interiors take on a softer, more intimate, and very warm veneer. Colors follow suit. Bright reds, oranges, and greens are handled rather nicely (despite a little bleeding) while there's a heavy golden/red push in lower light scenes. Flesh tones usually carry that warmer appearance throughout the film. Blacks often succumb to crush; darker objects and shadowy corners often melt together with no distinction. The picture struggles with some low-light color shifts. It's also rather smooth, drab, and flat overall. It's not the most impressive transfer, but given the eccentricities it seems to suit the movie rather well.

Trapped
Score: 3.5/5.0

Trapped's high definition presentation isn't anything remotely special, but that doesn't make it remotely bad. In fact, it's a fairly healthy high definition transfer, not one that's endlessly attractive but instead one that handles most every element suitably well. The one drawback is a rather bland color palette. The image is dim to excess, with almost no brilliance to it. Even in the light of intense headlamps or a few daytime exteriors, the palette rarely finds much in the way of vibrancy. That said, the palette is at least consistent. Basic hues are revealed nicely enough, skin textures are fairly accurate, and black levels don't falter. Details are attractive. The image enjoys a good, basic cinematic feel. Light grain enhances quality skin and clothing textures. Other elements like the home's hardwood floors and marble countertops are also well defined. A few speckles pop up from time to time and light banding crosses shadowy faces, but otherwise it's a solid -- but unspectacular -- transfer all around.

In the Cut / Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In the Cut
Score: 4.0/5.0

In the Cut's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack flows effortlessly and sounds quite good. Musical delivery is handled well, with solid clarity and good positioning around the stage, dominated up front but also gently flowing out of the back. The track often springs to life with well defined ambient effects. There's a broad range of supportive sounds, from city din to woodland serene. Passing vehicles, honking horns, rustling leaves, buzzing insects, and all sorts of diverse environmental elements are almost perfectly integrated into a number of scenes. Heavier effects, such as booming thunder and deliberately muddled and diffused strip club dance music, nicely help to define several scenes. Dialogue plays evenly and with natural clarity from the center channel. This is a good all-around soundtrack from Mill Creek.

Trapped
Score: 3.0/5.0

Trapped features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that ranges from decent-to-good. Music is a bright spot. It's fairly crisp and well spaced across the front, yielding good clarity whether deeper notes or more airy ones. There's a light but critical and well implemented surround element to help the track along. Sound effects seem to vary in quality and presence. A brief parking garage scene in the final act offers a very authentic reverberation, but an overhead helicopter lacks much presence. A few heavy thuds enter the stage with authority, but crowd applause in an early scene falls flat. Dialogue is always center-focused and usually firm and presented at an appropriate volume, but there's also an occasional shallowness to it. There's otherwise little of note here; it's a basic Thriller soundtrack with all the usual elements but not many bells and whistles. It works well enough but Trapped's lossless soundtrack isn't one destined to end up playing through showroom floor speakers.

In the Cut / Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Mill Creek double feature contains no supplemental content.

In the Cut / Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mill Creek's In the Cut and Trapped double feature offers two solid movies, one a gritty hardcore sexual Thriller and the other a kidnapping film that rearranges cliché and builds an entertaining experience. Video and audio are above-average for both titles. Recommended.