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[REVIEW
> CENTER OF THE WORLD]
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| 04/22/2001 |
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Obviously
meant to be a sort of raw and realistic "Pretty Woman," the
film turns out to be just a failed attempt that, although filled
with nudity and sex, is anything but hot. |
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Reviewed By Sue Limsukonth
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Peter
Sarsgaard and Molly Parker
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After nearly three decades of filmmaking, Wayne Wang's
oeuvre is not nearly as impressive as his career. Wang
belongs to an early group of filmmakers who toiled away
making low-budget films in the seventies and early eighties,
at a time the term "independent film" was unheard of by
a mainstream audience. In the nineties, Wang successfully
launched himself into bigger studio films, while holding
on to his roots by churning out some low budget work,
attempting to stay true to his vision. To Asian filmmmakers,
he was the early pioneer to help break the barrier and
attain a reasonable level of integrity back in the time
when the images of Bruce Lee and the absurdly stereotypical
characters such as Charlie Chan and Suzie Wong were the
only links between the Chinese and the Hollywood film
industry. For the first time, with films like "Chan Is
Missing" and "Dim Sum," Chinese characters are just normal
human beings as opposed to the walking mannequins, played
often-time by Chinese women sexily-clad in thigh-high
splitting Cheong Sam, clinging sensuously onto bodies
of villains in the seventies B-movies. |
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| All these credentials can sometimes make us overlook
the fact that Wang is, in essence, only a mediocre filmmaker.
A decent director-for-hire, his projects such as, "The
Joy Luck Club" and "Anywhere But Here," serve their purpose
by being accessible to their target audience, mostly women
who have read the books by Amy Tan and Mona Simpson, respectively.
But when Wang lets his own imagination run free, the outcome
is often middle-of-the-road as in the recent attempt in
"The Chinese Box." |
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| With his most recent return to the independent
route, the result is outdated and unoriginal. In "Center
of The World," a young dot-com millionaire hires a stripper
to accompany him on a trip to Las Vegas for a three-day
sexual romp. Obviously meant to be a sort of raw and realistic
"Pretty Woman," the film turns out to be just a failed
attempt that, although filled with nudity and sex, is
anything but hot. |
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More
tintalizing photos from the film: Is it Molly
Parker or just a random model?
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Molly Parker, first seen as a soulful necrophiliac a few
years back in the Canadian film, "Kissed," plays a conflicted
stripper who is reluctant to sell her body, but quickly
succumbs to a ten grand offer. Her character's cold exterior
doesn't give her much of a chance to express an ounce
of emotion. Peter Sarsgaard, previously seen as a white
trash rapist in "Boys Don't Cry," effectively plays a
clueless young computer geek. His good guy portrayal is
both genuine and endearing. Carla Gugino (last seen in
Brian De Palma's "Snake Eyes"), steals the scene whenever
she comes on screen with her vulnerable and disturbed
portrayal of Molly Parker's emotionally messed-up friend. |
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Wang's attempt to explore the inner world of a callous,
jaded stripper and a socially-stunted nouveau riche dot-com
computer geek seldom delves deep enough into the characters'
vulnerability. His attempt to take us into the shadow
world of a stripper's life and the commodification of
sexual desire falls short of its goal. But if you consider
that it costs nine bucks to see this movie in comparison
to the twenty dollars cover you blow getting into a strip
club, it's a bargain..jpg)
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Official
Movie Site
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Distributor's
Website
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