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January 17, 2009

THE CENTER OF THE WORLD

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Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.ColeSmithey.comThis ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

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ColeSmithey.comDirector Wayne Wang’s unreserved take on a specific slice of American intimacy in an age of computer obsessed males and post feminist nihilistic females rings with a perfectly hollow pitch that’s a digital video punch to the solar plexus.

Set primarily in Las Vegas, Wang ("The Chinese Box") explores the ramifications of a sexual arrangement between Richard Longman (Peter Sarsgaard), a newly wealthy twentysomething computer engineer, and Florence (Molly Parker).

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Florence is a drummer in an all chick punk band, and stripper at a lap dance bar called "Pandora’s Box."

Shot entirely on digital video using different types of cameras, the movie is a modern cross between "Carnal Knowledge" and "Last Tango In Paris" for the dot com generation.

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Without missing a beat, Richard and Flo settle into a short and doomed affair that brings fresh emotional scars to their already damaged identities.

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It’s a simple, straightforward, sexually explicit movie that lets its characters make gross mistakes that audiences will interpret with all of the empathy and alienation that these two brave actors allow.

Wayne Wang’s non-judgmental style lets the characters breath in a way that opens the movie up to repeated viewing although it is by no means a comfortable film.

Not Rated. 88 mins.

3 Stars

Cozy Cole

ColeSmithey.com

 

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