Review of 8MM (1999) by Jim M — 15 Nov 2009

Private Detective Tom Welles is hired by a wealthy widow to discover if the "snuff" film discovered in her husbands safe is real or not. With the aid of porn shop clerk Max California he descends into an underworld where nothing is sacred and perversion and degeneracy run rampant, becoming alienated from his own family. The deeper he probes the more disturbing the truth becomes until he comes face to face with pure evil.

One of Nicolas Cages (Welles) best films and featuring early performances from Joaquin Phoenix (Max) and James Gandolfini (Eddie Poole a seedy porn king) and also featuring memorable performaces by Peter Stormare, Anthony Heald and Chris Bauer. This is also one of the most disturbing films of the 90's pulling few if any punches in depicting the underground porn scene and a world where the life of one young girl is cheap. Yet amidst the darkness and depravity and pure evil that exist here the movie also contains a glimer of hope in Welles, a good man not given to violence, but ultimatly compelled to see justice done for a girl he's never met and whom the world quickly forgot. Too late to save her life it is not to late for Welles to seek justice and a measure of personal redemption from the depravetiy he has been exposed to. A hard film to watch but worth while. Well director Joel Schumacher doesn't show anything explicit it is disturbing none the less. Read the synopsis, watch the trailer that should tell you whether this movie is one you want to see.