8MM
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Private investigator Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) leads a normal life with his wife and daughter, spending most of his time on routine unfaithful-spouse cases. But an assignment involving a small, innocuous-looking reel of film sends him down a sordid and terrifying path into society's darkest corners. From the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard to New York's meat-packing district, Welles relentlessly pursues a trail of graphic and disturbing evidence to learn the fate of a complete stranger, a girl who begins to haunt his conscience.
A reel of eight-millimeter film turns a private investigator's life upside down.
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormace
Member Reviews
Great, underrated movie from the writer of Se7en! Disturbing and fascinating!
classic cage
Strong performances (especially from Cage and Phoenix) lift this neo-noir above pedestrian. Shumacher could have tightened up the pacing a bit (it does seem a little long at a peer two hours) but it is maintains its tense atmosphere through most scenes.
Sometimes I wish I could like other people's reviews cause they are so absolutely perfect. I saw this movie many years ago and it was so powerful back then, i wasn't sure how it would hold up. It does, brilliantly. I can't say it is something I'd watch on repeat but it has standing power after all these years.
One of my favorite movies of all time. I watched this in the theater. It was strange because at the end, it was like ok, what kind of people are sitting around me? lol. What I liked best about this was the brutally truthful answer to the question: Why do people do the horrible things they do? All too often we try to search for excuses or the Devil made me do it kind of thing. What this film says is that people do these things simply because they can, they want to, they enjoy it, it is who they are. I think it is that truth that makes this movie good and terrifying. I also loved the aesthetics.