8MM Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, Christopher Bauer, Anthony Heald, Catherine Keener Director: Joel Schumacher Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker Reviewed by Luke Buckmaster
On the Buckmaster scale of 0 stars (bomb), to 5 stars (a masterpiece): 3 stars
If you're not sickened by Nicholas Cage's dark journey into the realms of the hardcore porn industry, chances are you'll be intrigued by it. Bit by bit, an authentic version of this illegitimate world is brought to life with kinky detail by talented hack director Joel Schumacher. Schumacher's last two films were the muddled messes Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, but here he has at least proven himself capable of following a structured story and making it entertaining. With a script from a writer of such gritty wit as Andrew Kevin Walker (who penned Se7en), it would be hard not to make 8MM a success.
Unfortunately, Schumacher's direction sometimes flinches. Whereas Walker realizes the capacity for a disturbing but profound film, Schumacher simply makes a thriller that is edgy enough to warrant a sitting. Although this film is a good example of why a director and writer need to be on the same level, 8MM is nonetheless an amusing full-throttle journey into places and characters that are rarely looked at in movies.
"Dance with the devil and the devil doesn't change; the devil changes you," a character tells Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage), who really should have listened. Welles is a private investigator who lives a normal existence with a wife (Catherine Keener) and a baby daughter. Welles is called in by a billionaire widow to investigate the origin of an 8MM pornographic film that depicts the killing of a young teenager. His task is to find out whether the film is real or not. The case finds Welles in society's darkest corners, and he is guided by Max (Joaquin Phoenix), a streetwise adult bookstore clerk. As the two become closer to finding out who made the film and why, their lives are jeopardized as they find themselves deep in a web of conspiracies and hidden truths.
Welles is a reasonable and caring man for a reason - he serves as a contrast from the decent to the indecent. When evil eventually comes knocking on Welles' door, he desperately tries to find meaning in evil acts, all the while surrounded by people who couldn't care less. One despicable character answers Welles' question of "why" by stating "the things I do - I do them because I like them. Because I want to...I wasn't beaten as a child. I didn't hate my parents.'' His search for meaning in evil is cleverly written by Walker, who doesn't fall into the trap of making anything that he does seem acceptable (Payback, anyone?). Evil corrupts, and as Welles searches for answers, he is ultimately led to commit deeds similar to the ones he has been disgusted by.
Fascinating stuff, that's for sure. What then would inspire the producers to hand the directing reigns over to Joel Schumacher - a man whose best attempts to illustrate psychological images is to portray visual ones? 8MM looks dark and scary, but rarely feels it. For every bit of intrigue that Walker generates, Schumacher limits its success, and regularly turns potentially disturbing scenes into merely sleazy scenes. It's a trade-off that isn't very fair, that's for sure - one can't help but feel that David Fincher (Se7en, The Game) or even Brian De Palma (Mission: Impossible, Snake Eyes) would have been more suited to direct. Still, with the help of the animated presence of Nicholas Cage, Schumacher has made an admirable thriller despite what he has missed out on.
Read more of my reviews at In Film Australia http://infilmau.iah.net
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews