Smothered in jumpy camera work, out-of-focus scenes and  excessively lurid material, In the Cut ends up being as lifeless as the victims of its easy-to-spot serial killer. Co-stars Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo try to resuscitate this dreadful psychological thriller with sexually-charged performances, but their efforts do nothing more than prolong the misery for viewers. 

Breaking away once again from the perky romantic comedy roles she does so well, Ryan portrays a dowdy English instructor obsessed with words and the study of language. Egged on by her half-sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the mousy teacher falls in lust with the character played by Ruffalo -- a  detective investigating a murder in her neighborhood. Despite suspicions that Ruffalo might be the killer, Ryan is drawn to him and surrenders to the erotic pleasures he offers. After all, he's dark and dangerous -- the stereotypical bad boy women can't resist. "I can be anything you want me to be," he tells her. At the same time, Ryan's psychotic ex-boyfriend (Kevin Bacon) begins stalking her. That's a lot to deal with. No wonder she's a little kooky herself.

Although I admire Ryan for taking a risk with this ultra-serious role, I prefer her in movies like Kate and Leopold. Yes, I know she can do excellent dramatic work (witness her moving performance in Courage under Fire) -- but her talents shine more brightly in romantic comedies. I can't help wondering why she signed on for this movie.  Perhaps she wanted to show the world how beautiful her nude body still is at 42 years of age. Sorry, Meg, but I wish you had gone the Playboy route instead.         
 
By projecting such a mysterious persona in In the Cut, Ruffalo (View from the Top) takes more giant steps on the road to Movie Stardom. Although he's definitely no "pretty boy," the rough edges he displays here should help him obtain similar roles in the future. (And I hope he keeps that mustache. It improves his appearance considerably.) 

Much has been made of the fact that In the Cut boasts a female director (The Piano's Oscar-winning Jane Campion), screenwriter (Susanna Moore -- adapting the script from her own novel), producer (Nicole Kidman, who originally planned to play the lead) and star. So what do we learn from all this? Unfortunately, that women can depict the human condition  with the same insensitivity as men -- and that explicit sex scenes, crude language and graphic violence are no longer reserved solely for movies made by male filmmakers. Yes, indeed. We've come a long way.

(Released by Screen Gems and rated "R" for explicit dialogue, nudity, graphic crime scenes and language.)