Eight Millimeter (8mm)

The first hour of Eight Millimeter reminds viewers of two of the recent best psycho-thrillers, Silence of the Lambs and Seven. Then, for reasons unknown except to the director, it shifts gears to become a conventional action-thriller with routine shoot-em-ups and chase scenes. On both counts, Eight Millimeter disappoints.

The comparison to Seven, one of the grubbiest yet most effective movies of all time, is obvious because both screenplays were written by Andrew Kevin Walker.

Eight Millimeter opens with private detective Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Tom has a wife, Amy (Catherine Keener) and baby daughter, who strangely remain as one note characters during the course of the movie.

Tom is hired by the widow of a wealthy industrialist to investigate a "snuff movie" found in her husband’s safe. The movie depicts the gruesome murder of a young girl.

With a retainer sizable enough to guarantee his family’s financial security, Tom probes the underground porn film industry in Los Angeles and New York. Enlisting the aid of a colorful video store manager, Max California (Joaquin Phoenix) and given enough clues that even Inspector Clousseau could crack the case, Tom identifies the girl. It’s obvious she won’t be making any curtain calls.

At this point, Eight Millimeter becomes "theater of the absurd." Any normal detective would have turned matters over to the police. But no, hard headed good guy Tom plunges on to take on the likes of a sleazy porn film distributor (James Gandolfini), a perverted film maker (Peter Stormare), and the murderous masked "Machine" character. Oh yes, let’s not forget the slimeball lawyer. "Machine" will remind viewers of the gimp character from the famous pawnshop scene in Pulp Fiction. Only in this movie he’s strictly low rent, and come to think of it, that term just about sums everything up.