The Center of the World
The Center of the World
| 19 April 2001 (USA)
The Center of the World Trailers

A couple checks into a suite in Las Vegas. In flashbacks we see that he's a computer whiz on the verge of becoming a dot.com millionaire, she's a lap dancer at a club. He's depressed, withdrawing from work, missing meetings with investors. He wants a connection, so he offers her $10,000 to spend three nights with him in Vegas, and she accepts with conditions. Is mutual attraction stirring?

Reviews
Dorathen Better Late Then Never
Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.
Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
RavenGlamDVDCollector An erotic movie. Shot with a malfunctioning hand-held digital camera.Okay, the producers and director will insist this was a study in color, with mood-enhancing black-and-white, blah, blah, blah, ad infinitum through the drudgery of the commentary I just waded through, ooh horrors why do I do these things to myself?You shoot a picture Man Loves Woman, and you feel the need to go extremely artistic and we have to sit and watch as the color spectrum goes slightly haywire like on a broken TV set and you think it's high art?The joke is on the reviewers who are simply wowed by this. The punchline is indeed, low budget movie, sex as selling point, instant major audience cause the girl IS mesmerizing, maybe for real they only had broken equipment, which is suddenly A+ cos how arty it is gonna seem? And think about the profits!!! They're flogging a dead camel and making it walk!!Okay, so I'm kidding, but it could just as well be true. It looks like it has been shot with a faulty camera. And that says it all!!Except that freckle-faced red-haired supple lissome lean and lovely Molly Parker makes the whole thing worthwhile.(but for those of you who go for Carla Gugino, hoo boy...)
bke-1 This movie (excuse me, film) strives to be "edgy" with lots of "intense" sex scenes. At first the sex was compelling but after a while it was like, please make it stop. It's so boring!! We get it: they are two broken people with lots of problems, hang-ups, whatever. And they're channeling the emptiness of their lives into the sex. Beyond that, there's not much to this movie. Take away the sex and there's really not much here. In agreeing to join him in LV, Florence has a set of rules to which they must adhere. OK. But we don't really find out what's behind her strict adherence to "the rules." It's like a plot device that goes nowhere. Then, there's the scene where Richard runs into an old friend and Florence puts on a fake southern (?) accent and makes up a story about operating clothing line of for women's fantasies. Wow, she's so smart, witty and in- your-face! Four stars is really a stretch.
metallicmoor This movie is absurd, vague, slow, abrupt and incomplete. But isn't that how life is? I wont take any sides but one thing is certain that the director has been able to keep it as close to life as any of our lives could be. This movie is not about unreal heroes, super-hot babes & witty dialogs. It has a millionaire loser for a hero and a shy hooker for a heroine, and their love which is not your run of the mill happy ending love story but love which is free from any bias and desires of the flesh. Picture this - A really hot woman, dressed in exotic lingerie acting all horny in front of you, but you don't feel a thing. You don't feel a thing because you want her to undress her heart,her mind,her soul and not her body which you know could be bought by money. The brilliance of this movie lies in the fact that despite he is given what he wanted( at least what he bargained for), he still feels incomplete and we as viewers experience this by ourselves,and that goes for one scene and the actors life as a whole too. While she never lets her guard open(though baring all for him) but finds herself helpless in the face of the goodness and respect which she perhaps never experienced before. She denies its love because she doesn't want to complicate things or probably also realizes that their love is not to be, but the matters have complicated already. A poignant tale of absurd, incomplete love and the absurd, incomplete life of our internet world.* Don't watch it for the sleaze, you might end up erecting your sensitive side instead.
postmanwhoalwaysringstwice To the best of my knowledge "The Center of the World" was shot on a digital camera. If this is the case, then that was a very wise choice for the material and tone of the same. "The Center of the World" is an intellectual adult's version of "Pretty Woman" (although, I couldn't help but notice a few similarities to Egoyam's "Exotica"). On the most basic level is where we leave "Pretty Woman", however. This film is definitely not for all tastes, but that would be a loss for those folks. "The Center of the World" has a lot to say about human sexuality, loneliness, and money and the simple link between them in this modern-age. It's about the loss of human contact and connection between people in the same room; it's about perception and misjudgment. Additionally, there's a very primal ritual running through the sex scenes in this film that speaks volumes about human evolution versus technological evolution. There's a lot here and I don't want to ruin it for anyone by continuing my rant.