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The Centre Of The World
2001
Wayne Wang, although known for his personal drama about Chinese-American life, EAT A BOWL OF TEA, and the Hollywood equivalent, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, has always harbored a fascination with the depiction of sex in the movies. The director remarked, "In college I loved movies like LAST TANGO IN PARIS." Here, in his first digital .. Read more
| Starring | Molly Parker, Peter Sarsgaard, Mel Gorham, Jason McCabe |
|---|---|
| Director | Wayne Wang |
| Genres | Drama |
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The Centre Of The World
Wayne Wang, although known for his personal drama about Chinese-American life, EAT A BOWL OF TEA, and the Hollywood equivalent, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, has always harbored a fascination with the depiction of sex in the movies. The director remarked, "In college I loved movies like LAST TANGO IN PARIS." Here, in his first digital video feature, he provides, like Bertolucci, a raw and unflinching look at love, sex and money. Working with a script he developed with Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster, he tells the story of Richard (Peter Sarsgaard), a wealthy dot-com computer engineer who hires Florence (Molly Parker), a dancer at a strip club, to spend three days with him in Las Vegas. She provides a contract limiting her duties to a nightly erotic show, but with no actual sex. But as they develop real feelings for each other both of them are confused about the meaning that sex would have. Richard thinks it will make her his girlfriend, Florence thinks it will make her a prostitute. While this story line may seem borrowed from the comedy PRETTY WOMAN, this is a serious, intelligent film. It's intriguing script is enhanced by the visceral immediacy of the digital video photography. Overall, CENTER OF THE WORLD is an exploration of the politics and emotions that are tied to the struggle between men, women, sex, and money. The script was written by Wang, Auster, and Hustvedt but it is credited to Ellen Wong, a pseudonym that encompasses their collective work.
| Starring | Molly Parker, Peter Sarsgaard, Mel Gorham, Jason McCabe, Carla Gugino, Balthazar Getty |
|---|---|
| Director | Wayne Wang |
| Studio | MOMENTUM PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 28 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 24 Jun 2002 Production year: 2001 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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It's a sad fact that the naturalism and intimacy of the digital video format encourages directors to focus on “breaking down the barriers” at the expense of actual storytelling. Wayne Wang's disappointing character study is a case in point: it's an inert, lifeless exploration of the Las Vegas weekend shared by a rich but lonely computer mogul (Peter Sarsgaard) and the uninhibited stripper (Molly Parker) he pays to “entertain” him. Despite the film's candour and Parker's admirable willingness to put complete trust in her director, we are permanently distanced from these self-obsessed characters, and the attempt at psychological depth feels as fake and contrived as Vegas itself. Despite its art house trappings and intellectual ambitions, this is no more profound or revealing than your average late-night sex feature.
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Most helpful member's review
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19 out of 23 people found this review helpful
Old wine, old bottle
Its the same old tale of the lonely rich guy and the pretty hooker. The pretty hooker, however is not as pretty as Julia Roberts, the lonely rich guy not as dashing as Richard Gere or even as rich.
It is however an Indie film, so we get to see a bit more skin and the background music is suitably bleak and the ending reasonably ambiguous.
Its not great, but with it small running time, it will not waste a lot of your time either. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Incredibly dull and un-sexy
The basic idea of the film is quite good, take a lonely dot com millionaire and an emotionally withdrawn stripper, stick them in Las Vegas for three nights and see what happens. Despite a brief blip where the character of Florence (Molly Parker) questions her feelings for Richard (Peter Sarsgaard), nothing much happens within the story. At the end of the film both characters are essentially the same people they were when they first met. Richard is still lonely and Florence is still emotionally withdrawn. The director (Wayne Wang) provides no back story as to why both characters are they way they are, neither does he allow the characters to develop so the viewer can empathise with them in any way. And the ambiguous ending just adds to the confusion (although within the DVD extras there are three alternate endings, which give some closure to the story). At the end of the film all the viewer feels is that Florence is nothing more than a whore who will do anything for money, and Richard is socially immature and thinks money can solve all of life’s problems. Quite possibly one of the worst films I have ever seen. If you want to see something similar with a more engaging story and better acting try Nicolas Cage’s Leaving Las Vegas.
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Wayne Wang, although known for his personal drama about Chinese-American life, EAT A BOWL OF TEA, and the Hollywood equivalent, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, has always harbored a fascination with the depiction ... -