Neither sexy, smart nor believable, Wayne Wang's Las Vegas
video quickie The Center of the World is a more pretentious
and less bodacious version of late-night Cinemax soft porn. The
opening credits, essentially an ad for the Vegas hotel New York,
New York, highlighting its ersatz jumble of familiar world landmarks,
are probably the movie's high point. The script's big Idea focuses
on the title phrase--Las Vegas, a well-wired computer terminal,
and "cunt" are all celebrated as being the center of
the world--and the movie aims to warm its hands around all three
of these flames. Peter Sarsgaard stars as Richard Longman, a rumpled,
socially incompetent Every-Internet-Millionaire with sufficient
cash to buy a three-night Vegas trip with reedy stripper Florence
(Molly Parker). Since Florence is "really" a struggling
musician rather than a hooker, she accepts Richard's offer only
on certains conditions--no talk about feelings, no penetration,
no kissing on the mouth and a strict 10PM-2AM-only sexplay shift.
Eventually of course all of these rules are broken, but the more
explicit things get the harder the movie is to watch, since neither
character is particularly compelling nor are Sarsgaard and Parker
much fun to look at. The always-suspect acting bottoms out whenever
Carla Gugino's conventionally abused and strung-out hooker character
joins in. When the trip ends and the scene
finally returns Richard to his computers and Florence to her drumset,
it's a great relief for characters and audience alike.