Private eye Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) has a regular family life with his wife (Catherine Keener) and a baby. Daniel Longdale (Anthony Heald) is a lawyer of recently widowed Mrs. Christian. She found a shocking snuff film in her husband's possessions and she wants Welles to check its authenticity. He is hired to find the missing girl. He finds a missing report for Mary Ann Mathews which leads to California. He enlists the help of porn store clerk musician Max (Joaquin Phoenix). The trail leads to pornographer Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini) and then Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare).
I really like the moody feel at the start but the L.A. stuff is borderline silly. Some of the investigation is a bit too old school. I get a sense that director Joel Schumacher is trying to hard-boiled this thriller more than necessary as a style choice. Nicolas Cage is able to keep this train on track with his intensity. Phoenix adds a good dash of color. This movie is like one of those serial killer movies. It is both disturbing and compelling.
I really like the moody feel at the start but the L.A. stuff is borderline silly. Some of the investigation is a bit too old school. I get a sense that director Joel Schumacher is trying to hard-boiled this thriller more than necessary as a style choice. Nicolas Cage is able to keep this train on track with his intensity. Phoenix adds a good dash of color. This movie is like one of those serial killer movies. It is both disturbing and compelling.