The Centre Of The World

The Centre Of The World, very poor film

Depressing as hell and rather self-contained, The Center of the World is a dull, dreary story, shot on the cheap with an ugly, hyper-real aesthetic but a somewhat unbelievable starting point. Richard, a successful but socially inadequate computer engineer, meets Molly, a drummer in an aspiring rock group, iand decides to talk to her. Molly (very) soon tells him that for money, she works in a strip club, and one night he goes there to meet her and gets a lap dance. Apparently under pressure from his friends to 'get laid' (well, there's one scene anyway), he offers Molly a substantial amount of money if she spends a three-day weekend with him in Las Vegas. Of course, eventually she agrees, though inevitably there are conditions: she's only 'his' from 10 PM until 2 AM, there's no kissing on the mouth, and definitely no penetration. Guess what happens? The bleak ending is a bit disrespectful to one of the characters, but is certainly powerful, and the strong sex scenes are far more effective than say, those in 9 Songs.

Though there's really no new ground covered here, writer Ellen Benjamin Wong and director Wayn Wang clearly have good intentions, and what elevates this into watchable, sometimes perceptive territory is the stunning lead performance from Peter Sarsgaard (and to a lesser extent, the performance by Molly Parker). Whenever films are shot on hand-held camcorders/home-video equipment, something about the way it looks highlights that people are acting. It all looks too 'fake' and static, mannerisms become exaggerated and it becomes quickly obvious that the whole thing is, well, fictitious. But Sarsgaard is never anything less than utterly believable; he is supernaturally talented here - there's no artifice, and though the entire film is really quite underwritten, his is the only character here who feels like he has lived before the film starts and will continue to live after it is over.

I found this slow and poor and did not enjoyed the film, its a old story that money buys

What could have been an involving, erotic meditation on sexually in the age pf the internet is instead an amateurish, aimless mess. Sarsgaard does his best with a staggeringly inept script but can not avoid coming across as a man desperately confused as to why he got involved in the project in the first place. Ditto myself and this review. Avoid.

Molly Parker never chooses easy roles for herself (Kissed, Suspicious River) but she is always totally believable, surely the mark of a superb actress. The characters she plays are nearly always edgy and outside 'societies' normal comfort zones. Her lap dancer in Centre of the World is a case in point and she comes across as sexy and sassy. It's a simple story, a sort of realistic Pretty Woman. Rich guy meets girl, she turns out to be a stripper, he takes her to Vegas, she's reluctant but agrees so their contract only allows for sex without penetration. Unfortunately when feelings start to intrude and a relationship begins to form between herself and her client she finds herself going further than she initially wished. If you like realistic adult drama this is well worth a look.