YOU will probably already be aware of this film, due to it being of extreme interest to the tabloids.

Meg gets her kit off. Meg goes brunette. Meg supposedly gets a Leslie Ash trout pout. Flash snap exclusive.

But it's almost guaranteed that those who will lap up every detail of the rumoured botox and the bare bottomness will absolutely hate In The Cut.

It's one of those which will divide the populace. On one side, the yay sayers examine the artistic integrity, the style and the original substance of the film, perhaps overlooking the more ponderous story points and glaring unreality. And on the other, the nays shake their heads in wonderment, bewildered at how such arty-farty nonsense just usurped two hours of their life.

And Jane Campion, with The Piano, Portrait of a Lady and Holy Smoke, is a woman whose every film provokes such a debate.

Meg Ryan plays Frannie Avery, a die-hard New Yorker and romantic who collects florid phrases which appeal to her but is simultaneously very restrained in her dealings with men. She tutors, and flirts with, a young black man, is stalked by another one night stand (Kevin Bacon) and is moving through life in a haze until she meets Detective Molloy (Mark Ruffalo), investigating the murder of a woman outside Frannie's apartment.

Finding him base but irresistible, the two then embark on a relationship, which is threatened by the fact that he operates in such a sexist and racist macho environment and that she can't stop believing he is somehow connected to the crime.

Ryan stepped in to fill the shoes of Nicole Kidman for this role when the latter dropped out, with Kidman retaining an executive producer credit - and it shows. Kidman has been proved far more versatile as an actress and, having already done the naked thing on stage in The Blue Room in the West End, is more of a wholly convincing chameleon of an actress.

But I will admit, Ryan comes off more than admirably. Campion's eye has always fallen on stories of enigmatically repressed women and Frannie is no different. Ryan knew absolutely what she was signing up to, and indeed she's wholly emotionally and actually exposed for Campion. If Campion can get Holly Hunter an Oscar, she can weave her magic for every other assumed "slight" actress.

The film is full of incredibly interesting moments and terrific performances from all those surrounding the leading lady. Jennifer Jason Leigh's vulnerable sister is both fascinating and authentic, and Bacon, who appears unbilled, has a superb manic energy surrounding him. Mark "devilishly ruffled" Ruffalo is simply perfect.

But, in the end, there's just too much going on. The blend of romance, thriller and urban grit doesn't make enough of a coherent whole. It has simply been too graphic, intense and interesting to end up as a run-of-the-mill murder mystery and, as such, is sadly disappointed by its own conclusion.