rated r sony pictures classics starring julian sands , saffron burrows , stefano dionisi , gina mckee , kelly macdonald , femi ogumbanjo , jonathan rhys-meyers , hanne klintoe written and directed by mike figgis as much as i hate to say it , mike figgis has only made one film worth seeing . that film was the gritty , heartbreaking drama " leaving las vegas " . and as i look back at it , the performances of nicolas cage and elisabeth shue carried a film that was merely above average . his second post- " vegas " film ( after the awful " one night stand " ) is the plotless , narcissistic and dull " loss of sexual innocence " . " the loss of sexual innocence " is essentially a series of unrelated moments in the life of nic , a british filmmaker . the stories are supposedly autobiographical , and if that's true , then i have learned things about figgis that i'm better off not knowing . the moments in nic's life are pointlessly intercut with scenes of a modern adam and eve . the irony of the film is that we see nic in so many stages of life , yet at the end we still know almost nothing about him . i happen to think that mike figgis was just being self-important by intercutting scenes of adam and eve and flashing titles across the screen before each new segment , so if there's any subtlety to be found , i didn't see it . if there is anything redeeming about " the loss of sexual innocence " , it is benoit delhomme's lucid cinematography . there is something subtle about his own work , even though it can't add any depth to a shallow film . and what is with the title ? this is not a term paper . the best that can be said about the film is that it's unconventional , but conventionality may have made this an interesting character study . there are certain filmmakers who can turn narcissism into a fine art , as vincent gallo did in last year's excellent " buffalo '66 " . mike figgis , however , needs to learn that while independent film is about our own visions , it is also about how we present those visions on film . if mike figgis stares at a house for five minutes , that doesn't mean it needs to be translated onto a reel . where " leaving las vegas " was compassionate , " the loss of sexual innocence " is selfish . what a disappointment . a review by akiva gottlieb , the teenage movie critic <a href= " mailto : akiva@excite . com " >akiva@excite . com</a> <a href= " http : //www . angelfire . com/mo/film " >http : //www . angelfire . com/mo/film</a> <hr>get your free , private email at <a href= " http : //mail . excite . com/ " >http : //mail . excite . com/</a> 
