Barnes & Noble

Joy Luck Club director Wayne Wang explores commercialized sensation in the cyber age in this drama, focusing on the complex relationship between a dot-com millionaire and a professional stripper. Wang sets the tone cleverly in the opening credits when what appear to be snapshots of exotic travel spots turn out to be different views of the Las Vegas theme casinos where most of the film is set. Peter Sarsgaard portrays an alienated programming genius whose preference for the virtual to the real is challenged when he discovers the flesh-and-blood vitality of Silicon Valley strip clubs. After meeting an aspiring drummer and part-time lap dancer (Molly Parker), he offers her $10,000 to spend three days with him in Las Vegas. She agrees, on the condition that there is no penetration, no kissing, and, most important, no feelings. But this neat, no-strings arrangement is quickly undermined by the messy tangle of emotions that emerge over the course of their stay in Vegas. The film is shot in digital video and affects the stripped-down style of amateur filmmaking with flat lighting, slightly unsteady handheld camerawork, and a completely unadorned soundtrack. The acting feels improvisational, although novelist Paul Auster and Wang, who collaborated on Smoke, receive credit for the script. It seems Wang is asking what role intimacy plays in our increasingly technological society, and whether or not true emotional connections are possible in an increasingly fragmented world. The director's obvious distress with the answers is played out brilliantly in the complicated interactions between his characters. Virginia McCollam

All Movie Guide

In this digitally shot feature from acclaimed director Wayne Wang) (The Joy Luck Club), the boundaries of sexual relations are put to the test by two individuals. Richard (Peter Sarsgaard) is a dot-com entrepreneur who, despite earning millions of dollars, feels little connection to the outside world. After frequenting a strip club, he offers Florence (Molly Parker), a sometime-stripper who also works as a drummer, $10,000 dollars to accompany him to Las Vegas for a short stay. She makes him a list of rules that must be followed: no kissing on the mouth, no penetration, and each will stay in separate bedrooms and only convene during the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Staying in adjoining rooms, they stick to the plan as laid out until they develop a fondness for each other -- still, Florence tries to maintain the order of their agreement. Despite Richard's declarations that he is in love with her, she is forced not to let herself get too involved, even when their sexual relationship begins to increase after the arrival of Florence's hooker friend Jerri (Carla Gugino), who after a brutal fight with a man, immerses herself in the sexual lives of Richard and Florence. The film also features Balthazar Getty and Shirley Knight in small supporting roles. Jason Clark

Chicago Sun-Times

If you understand who the characters are and what they're supposed to represent, the performances are right on the money. Roger Ebert

Chicago Reader

The metaphorical thrust of the story suggests that it might be about the fiction-making processes of writers and filmmakers as well as the delusions of capitalist buying power. Jonathan Rosenbaum

San Francisco Examiner

A brave and sexy film not easily forgotten or dismissed. Jeffrey M. Anderson

Product Details

• UPC: 012236119630
• Source: LIONS GATE
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:28:00
• Sales Rank: 26,485

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