Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, Christopher Bauer, Anthony Heald, Catherine Keener
Director: Joel Schumacher
Producers: Gavin Polone, Judy Hofflund, and Joel Schumacher
Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker
Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Music: Mychael Danna
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
The best way I can describe the style of 8MM is like this: director Joel Schumacher does David Fincher by way of Brian De Palma. The result, while not entirely devoid of entertainment value, doesn't work as a whole. There are several significant gaps in logic, the protagonist's psychological development is inadequately motivated, and the ending suffers from being an anticlimax. Plus, as has become commonplace with big budget Hollywood pictures, the movie is at least 20 minutes too long. I can't help thinking that with tighter editing, the flaws in 8MM wouldn't have stood out as clearly. As it is, everything is on screen too long, and the problems are magnified.
The film starts out in a promising fashion, with Nicolas Cage playing private investigator Tom Welles, who is hired by a rich old lady to determine whether an 8 mm film found in her late husband's safe is a "snuff film" or a good fake. Watching the film, Welles is unsettled by what he sees: a young, frightened girl (Jenny Powell) brutally murdered by a burly man wearing a leather mask. He thinks it's real, and sets out to find the victim's identity. His search takes him away from his home and wife, Amy (Catherine Keener), and to a Missing Persons Bureau in Cleveland. There, he discovers that the girl's name is Mary Anne Matthews. A visit to her mother nets additional information, and soon Welles is in Los Angeles, trying to penetrate the illegal porn market. With the help of an adult store clerk named Max (Joaquin Phoenix), Welles uncovers a link between Mary Anne, a sleazy porn producer named Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini), and the mysterious Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare), the "Jim Jarmusch of S&M."
Part detective story and part revenge thriller, 8MM is at its best when Welles is searching. Like the hero in Laura, he becomes obsessed with the dead girl. There's a touching scene in which he opens her suitcase and finds evidence of broken dreams and lost hopes. The film also gives a convincing view of the seedy underbelly of the porn industry, as Welles delves into a world that most people would prefer not to know about. The deeper he explores, the more his eyes are opened. As Max tells him, "You dance with the devil, and the devil don't change. The devil changes you."
Unfortunately, the last third of the film is filled with familiar thriller situations as the protagonist is subjected to physical torture, then returns to take his revenge. The recent Payback, starring Mel Gibson, did something similar to better effect. On more than one occasion, we are also subjected to the dreaded "Talking Killer Syndrome," in which the guy with the weapon reveals his plans and his motivations instead of just killing his intended victim. Smart movies don't resort to this sort of plot device.
Nicolas Cage gives a flat performance. He never seems psychologically in synch with the character, and, as a result, we have a hard time accepting the various states of mind that Welles passes through. There are isolated moments when we relate to him, but those pass quickly. Aside from Cage, no one has a great deal of screen time. Joaquin Phoenix plays a typical sidekick. James Gandolfini and Peter Stormare are bad guys of the nastiest sort. And Catherine Keener does her best to inject some life into the staple role of the supportive wife who's waiting at home.
8MM is a dark film, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the work of David Fincher (Seven, The Game). The film crisscrosses the country, stopping in Cleveland, Los Angeles, and New York City. Every city looks the same: dark, grim, and unpleasant. Fincher isn't the only director Schumacher has turned to for inspiration. Even casual movie-goers will recognize the influence of Brian De Palma (Blow Out, Body Double). Schumacher has also cannibalized himself, stealing liberally from Falling Down, especially late in the proceedings. And, as in that 1993 feature, which starred Michael Douglas as a white collar worker who goes postal, this one has a payoff that fails to justify the build up. Like too many A-list Hollywood productions, 8MM exploits potentially interesting ideas as a means to inject some superficial, background color when they could offer so much more to an ambitious story. Strip away the noir veneer from the scenery and the thinly drawn characters, and all you'll find is a generic thriller.
© 1999 James Berardinelli