8mm

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8mm ★★½ 1998 (R)

Surveillance expert Tom Welles (Cage) leads a normal family life until he's hired by widow Mrs. Christian (Carter). She wants him to find out the identity of a young girl apparently slashed to death in a porno film found in her late husband's safe. He descends into the underbelly of the pornography industry, guided by sleazeballs with names like Max California (Phoenix) and Dino Velvet (Stormare), and is both disgusted and fascinated by what he sees and learns. After he ferrets out the villain, he is forced into a showdown in order to save his family. Scripted by “Seven” writer Andrew Kevin Walker, but lacks some of the psychological punch of his previous effort. 123m/C VHS, DVD . Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Rafael (Leaf) Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, Anthony Heald, Catherine Keener, Chris Bauer, Myra Carter, Amy Morton; D: Joel Schumacher; W: Andrew Kevin Walker; C: Robert Elswit; M: Mychael Danna.