Themes: Self-Destructive Romance, Prostitutes, Class Differences
Main Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Molly Parker, Carla Gugino, Balthazar Getty
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
Diana Kunce - Art Director, Heidi Levitt - Casting, Kris Nicolau - Casting, Heidi Levitt - Co-producer, Francey Grace - Co-producer, Andrew Loo - Co-producer, Sophie de Rakoff Carbonell - Costume Designer, Jonathan McGarry - First Assistant Director, Wayne Wang - Director, Lee Percy - Editor, Ira Deutchman - Executive Producer, Greg Johnson - Executive Producer, Andrew Loo - Line Producer, Deva Anderson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Donald Graham Burt - Production Designer, Mauro Fiore - Cinematographer, Peter Newman - Producer, Wayne Wang - Producer, Lydia Simon - Set Designer, Jim Steube - Sound/Sound Designer, Wayne Wang - Screen Story, Paul Auster - Screen Story, Miranda July - Screen Story, Siri Hustvedt - Screen Story, Ellen Benjamin Wong - Screenwriter, Lydia Simon - Set Decorator
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: four hours per night of erotic play, and no penetration. During the days in Vegas, they get to know each other, have fun, meet a friend of hers; at night, at least after the first night, things seem to get complicated. When the three days are over the stripper makes it clear that she was only there for the money and that the man she spent the time with was just a client. Upset that the feelings he had weren't mutual, he returns home heartbroken. The movie ends with his return to the strip club to see the woman he fell in love with again. She greets him fondly and says that she is glad to see him again. Because the movie is shown in a non-linear format, it is left to the viewer's interpretation of when this event occurred. One could choose to believe that the visit to the strip club occurred before the trip to Las Vegas, in which case the couple went their separate ways and never saw each other again, or one could believe that the couple met after their trip to Las Vegas and made another attempt at a relationship.
The film opened to mixed reviews, and has been compared to movies with similar "hooker in love" storylines such as Exotica and Pretty Woman. The Center of the World is more explicit than the said films, containing both female and male full frontal nudity, as well as a penetration shot of a lollipop in a vagina.
