8MM DVD > Reviews > 8mm - not a happy movie

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Disliked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Great acting, original
Disadvantages:	Poor plot, too long

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Nicolas Cage stars in possibly his darkest movie ever.

Cage stars as Tom Welles, a PI yet to make his big break. When a rich widow offers him the case that could make his career, he jumps at the chance. All he has to do is find out if a “snuff” tape (a video of a person being murdered) found by the widow, belonging to her late husband, is real or not. Unfortunately, things are not that simple and the case could cost Welles his life and more.

The plot of the film is disturbing to say the least. I was not particularly looking forward to this movie as I knew just from the description of the movie from the reviews that I had read that it would not be a happy two hours.

The first half of the movie will shock you (well it shocked me) the most as you learn about the snuff tape and the world of pornography. The second half didn’t seem so bad. I don’t know if its due to the fact that you will have been numbed by the previous hour or if because the film becomes more like your usual thriller. However, either way, the second hour can't save the first from making this an average movie at best.

Personally, I think that Nic Cage does pretty well in this movie and I can only salute the guy. I am starting to become a big fan of his, especially in some of his other, better movies (The Rock, Face/Off). Joaquin Phoenix co-stars as Max California, Welles’ ally in the seedy world of pornography. I saw this movie before I saw Gladiator (which stars Phoenix in his first blockbuster) but I was already impressed with him. Unfortunately, he doesn't get long enough in this movie to shine brightly.

Joel Schumacher is the director and I don't know what he was thinking. Ambitous maybe, but perhaps he should think things out a bit more first. He messed up his Batman movie and he almost messed this movie up. Luckily for him, he has a great cast to save him.

Basically, I was not a great fan of this movie and won't recommend unless you really, really like this type of movie. I definitely won't be buying the video.