'In the Cut' will bleed you dry, all for naught.(TICKET)(Review)

Byline: PHILIP BOOTH CORRESPONDENT

If Jane Campion had succeeded with her apparent mission for "In the Cut" -- that of creating a hallucinatory, frightening urban crime thriller with a sexy edge -- then the results might best be described as an erotic fever dream, or a sexually charged waking nightmare.

Campion, the queen of psychosexual cinema ("The Piano") isn't on her game, though. And her adaptation of Susanna Moore's controversial 1995 best seller is little more than a moody, bloody mess, spiffed up with decent lead performances by actors playing hard against type, evocative cinematography by Dion Beebe ("Chicago") and sexual encounters that are more …