Exotica

Kino

Love the Hard Way

Film.com's FREE movie of the week is "Love the Hard Way." Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and Charlotte Ayanna star in this drama about a thief who falls for a curious, beautiful young woman. As their intimacy grows, a slick cop (Pam Greer) is closing in.

Rating: R

Running Time: 104 mins.

Country Of Origin: Canada

starring: Bruce Greenwood, Mia Kirshner, Don McKellar, Arsinee Khanjian, Elias Koteas, Sarah Polley, Victor Garber, Calvin Green, David Hemblen, Peter Krantz

director: Atom Egoyan

A tax auditor eases the pain left by the death of his young daughter through an unusual relationship with a dancer at a local strip club. His life intersects with a quirky pet store owner with a dangerous penchant for the exotic.

December 8, 2000

Go ahead, laugh when I tell you that this film set in a strip club is as seriously intended as a tax audit. Actually, a tax audit is in there, too. But we're jumping ahead. Just don't confuse Exotica with the flashy lap-dancing epic Showgirls currently being shot in Vegas by director Paul Verhoeven with an NC-17 rating in mind. Flashy is not in the film vocabulary of Canadian writer-director Atom Egoyan, whose five previous films (Next of Kin, Family Viewing, Speaking Parts, The Adjuster and Cal…