Courtesy of Sony Pictures

I must assume that most people have at least a casual appreciation for Nicolas Cage. He’s a cultural touchstone, after all. However, I see so much more to him than a pop culture meme who spent years appearing in direct-to-video trash to pay off back taxes. He’s an Oscar-winning actor with an incredibly dynamic range. With the right script and a strong director, he’s capable of making cinematic magic. In fact, I would go so far as to say that even some of his less-celebrated efforts warrant reappraisal.

For instance, 8MM was met with an icy reception from film scholars when it bowed, but I believe critics were too quick to dismiss this gritty neo-noir as a Se7en clone and missed out on a lot of the nuance within. Though the films share a screenwriter in Andrew Kevin Walker and feature some thematic similarities, 8MM stands on its own two feet and deserves credit for everything it gets right.  

In all fairness, most of the similarities between the two pictures are skin-deep. Instead of a pair of homicide detectives in hot pursuit of a serial killer, Walker centers 8MM around private detective Tom Welles (Cage), a man tasked with investigating the authenticity of a snuff film. Tom is operating at the behest of Mrs. Christian (Myra Carter), an elderly widow whose husband left behind a sizable fortune, and what she suspects is a snuff film locked away in his safe. Mrs. Christian desperately hopes that the tape is a fake, but she cannot bear to live with the uncertainty. As Tom investigates, he becomes singularly fixated on the case, losing himself as he descends into full-fledged obsession, with eventual designs on vigilante justice. 

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The film leans into neo-noir influences with Cage fulfilling the morally ambiguous detective archetype. Neo-noir pictures routinely feature a lead character who exists in a moral gray area, and Tom certainly fits that mold. Although he starts out above board, all that changes when he begins this investigation. He’s pulled from his peaceful reality into a world of kinky sex and ultra-violence, eventually pivoting from hero to antihero. Tom’s arc leaves off with him forever changed by what he’s seen and done. After everything plays out, the viewer is left to question whether the end justifies the means. There are no easy answers here, but anyone who connects with the picture is likely to spend some time marinating on all of that. 

As Tom digs deeper and deeper into the case, he becomes hyper-fixated and more estranged from his family. This sets him off on a collision course with isolation and obsession, two more themes prominently featured in neo-noir cinema. Tom ultimately becomes so entrenched in his investigation that he continues his quest for justice even when he knows that satisfying his objective may further distance him from his wife and daughter, posing questions about the cost of justice and leaving the audience to meditate on his motivations.  

Tom’s motivations are not cut and dried. He isn’t entirely good or entirely evil. Even in his darkest moments, he still holds onto a shred of his humanity. As Tom interrogates sleazy pornographer turned snuff filmmaker Eddie (James Gandolfini), desperately searching for justification to take Eddie’s life, he’s paralyzed by his conscience. Tom isn’t a choir boy, but he isn’t a cold-blooded killer, either. He exists somewhere in between.

When he finally musters the strength to kill Eddie after an emotional phone call with the mother of a young woman killed in one of Eddie’s films, we hear the death unfold with Tom standing outside the ramshackle structure where he bludgeons Eddie to death. We don’t actually see him doing it, but we hear the audio of him beating Eddie to death while he ruminates on what he has just done. That separation plays out like an out-of-body experience and perhaps also as a representation of Tom’s two distinct sides.  

The film’s morally ambiguous antihero effectively pulls me into this gritty landscape despite the unlikely nature of the narrative. That’s thanks, in part, to an opening act that acknowledges the improbability of the setup. Screenwriter Walker renders a reality where snuff films are more than an urban legend, but he goes about it in a smart way that’s likely to overcome audience objections. The film readily acknowledges that snuff films aren’t real before going all in on the concept. Tom initially hits a dead end in his investigation when no one takes him seriously for that very reason. Establishing that as a jumping-off point makes it easier to buy in when we eventually learn that, despite all of that, the tape is real. 

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The film’s immersive qualities are further supported by director Joel Schumacher’s keen oversight. The filmmaker collaborates with cinematographer Robert Elswit to present the proceedings with imposing cinematography that effectively utilizes shadows, a hallmark of neo-noir. The shadow play makes for an unsettling presentation that also underscores the moral ambiguity by which the picture is permeated.

On a similar note, Schumacher employs a camera filter that gives the picture a sickly, jaundiced look that is perfectly befitting to the decidedly unsavory subject matter. The end result always leaves me feeling ill at ease, but that is very much by design.   

All things considered, critics were too quick to discount 8MM for its similarities to the admittedly superior Se7en, but to do so is to miss out on everything it has to offer. And it has plenty to offer. 8MM is an immersive effort that exists in a state of moral ambiguity where right and wrong aren’t always black and white. The film features a complex, nuanced antihero at its core, while serving up more questions than answers. It’s a gritty, unwavering effort that is likely to stick with you long after the final frame. 

If you’re itching to experience the film for yourself, you’ll have to look past the streaming scene. If you’re willing to do that, you can track 8MM down as either a digital rental or grab a copy on physical media. I suggest picking up the Shout! Factory Blu-ray, which features an exclusive interview with the late director Joel Schumacher.  

Categorized:Editorials