Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.


With the recent revolution for the use of digital cameras being used in film, filmmakers all over the place are trying more and more to experiment the possibilities of what can be done with digital video. Last year, the 1990s art-rock band Nine Inch Nails broke ground with their DVD concert film “And All That Could Have Been” by filming their shows with regular digital cameras to give the idea that the viewer is at the NIN show. Even filmmakers like Michael Winterbottom and Steven Soderbergh have been experimenting with homemade digital video cameras for their films. In 2001, Asian filmmaker Wayne Wang (who was known for films like “The Joy Luck Club” and “Smoke”) takes a break from his usual, stylish Hollywood fare to direct an experimental sex film entitled “The Center of the World”.

“The Center of the World” is a sex drama, shot in 35mm digital video transfer by cinematographer Mauro Fiore about a young dot-com entrepreneur named Richard (Peter Sarsgaard) who pays a stripper named Florence (Molly Parker) $10,000 to be with him in Las Vegas for 72 hours. The story co-written by Wang and screenplay written by Ellen Benjamin Wong, “The Center of the World” explores the vulnerability of two people trying to get away from their own troubles through sex. Along the way, they discover about each other and are wondering if they’re really doing this for money or something more. While some might not like the natural tone through the digital camera or its inconsistent script, Wayne Wang’s “The Center of the World” is a compelling sex drama filled with ravaged emotions.

The film begins with Richard and Florence arriving in Las Vegas as the two look back at how they meet. Richard is a wunderkind dot-com entrepreneur who is filled with a lot of money but is ravaged by loneliness. He meets up with Florence, a struggling musician who is a stripper by night only to pay her bills. Richard visits her in a strip-club and wants to know her even more. Richard decides to pay her $10,000 to stay with her Las Vegas for 72 hours. Florence agrees but wants to have stipulations about their stay. They write up a contract where the two can do whatever they want in Vegas but from 10 pm to 2 am, Florence and Richard must engage in sexual matters, except for casual sex or anything involving penetration.

Richard & Florence spend the first day in Vegas looking at the city, going through various places and even riding in a roller coaster at one of the cities hotels. By nighttime, Richard waits for Florence to get ready in their first night of sex. She looks back at the day they made the contract and everything while Richard is looking at business reports and meetings. By 10 pm, Florence arrives wearing a shiny, blue, leather dress as she seduces Richard for the night. While most of the time, they are doing sexual matters, they even engage in conversation about their own life, particularly Richard who talked about the death of his father early in the film.

After one hot night, the two spend the day at their hotel suite playing computer games and looking through Las Vegas where Richard meets a colleague (Balthazar Getty) as Florence decides to do a Southern accent to impress Richard’s friend. Florence then takes Richard to meet up with her friend Jerri (Carla Gugino) as they spend the day roaming through Vegas. The second night of sex begins but disastrously when blood on Florence’s white leather dress appears from Richard. The night gets worse when Jerri arrives after a fight with her boyfriend. Jerri and Florence engage in lesbian temptations as Richard begins to wonder if Florence is doing it for the money as the trick ended up backfiring on Jerri.

Richard then becomes more confused at what the whole plan as he is wondering if he is doing for the money while Florence wants to maintain a professional relationship to their contract. Even the subject of emotions comes into place as both are feeling tortured over what they are doing as the three-nights in Vegas was a trip for money or something else.

While the film’s script is inconsistent as it goes back and forth to the early meetings of Richard and Florence and back to their sexual escapades, what the script does succeed is capturing the vulnerability of the two main characters. Mauro Fiore’s cinematography might look fuzzy to some but it’s still well shot for its natural tone, particularly on the roller coaster scene, and the day shots of Vegas. Even in the extreme close-ups on Molly Parker as he captures her freckled body and lovely blue eyes. Wang deserves credit for the film’s vulnerable tone and its naturalistic tone by using a digital camera to the film rather than something more expensive in his other film work like “Maid in Manhattan” and “The Joy Luck Club”.

Molly Parker is easily the film’s best performance as she captures the vulnerability of Florence who hides it through sex as she does a great job at playing the seductress, even without the typical Hollywood body of someone like a Pamela Anderson or a Playboy model. Parker has a way better body and uses it not to just seduce the viewers, who are merely voyeurs in the film, on a sexual level but a whole lot more. Peter Sarsgaard delivers an excellent performance as the somewhat, slacker and lonely Richard who is filled with torment over his own emotions as he tries to be a nice guy to Florence but is afraid to descend to the level of being a jerk. Sarsgaard definitely brings something different to his performance, particularly since people know him more as a homophobic, hick in the movie “Boys Don’t Cry”. The worst role in the film goes to Carla Gugino whose role as Jerri really makes no sense at all as she tries to swindle money from Richard and fails. She tries to go back and forth as this abused woman and a con artist that is very messy and lacks any sense of emotion throughout her 10-minute appearance in the film.

While some might not like the film’s experimental approach or inconsistent script, “The Center of the World” is a compelling and very good sexual drama. Fans of softcore porno films and other assorted adult films from the likes of Zalman King would be bored by the film’s cerebral tone. Indie film fans will enjoy the film’s experimental approach as well as the performances of Parker and Sarsgaard as they both reveal themselves in their performances, physically and emotionally. “The Center of the World” is really a film for those who like experimental textures and compelling sex dramas. “The Center of the World” isn’t a great indie-sex film but it’s one still worth watching.

Related Indie-Sex Film Reviews:

Spanking the Monkey (1994):

http://www.epinions.com/content_109745180292

Secretary (2002):

http://www.epinions.com/content_101047570052



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age