Waste of time

Good concept, poorly executed.

Admirable film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

At times, this movie is mesmerizing and mysterious, a really good story about a serial killer who targets blind women. But at other times it is unbearably stupid and overdone. Andy Garcia is OK part of the time and terrible when he portrays any strong emotion, like anger. He and Uma Thurman are good together at times, like when she is freaked out over the party and Andy comforts her. This is a "B" movie but it aspires to be an "A" flick. John Malkovich is wonderful, at times, as he often is, when given almost nothing to work with. Lots of the time the story just feel empty. Gets worse as it goes on.

Director Bruce Robinson got robbed! Would have been nice if the film company put into their budget advertising. This movie has it all folks.First, the cast. Excellent. Several budding stars in the making. Lance Hendriksen is just fabulous. Like any great film actor there is little time to develop a character so casting must be spot on. Lance is believable from the first seconds of the opening scene. Sets the tone of his character Freddy Ross. Uma is great. Her eyes are eerie. She plays this role with softness and depth. All the characters are well thought out. Graham Beckel is just a scary dude. We don't know his name, but he plays the bad guy perfectly. Those eyes! All the supporting cast hit the bulls-eye like watching Seinfeld...memorable from the get-go.Secondly, the atmosphere. Blind girl in a school for the blind in the cold mountains--rain and snow. What more could you ask for? Thirdly, the first little nugget. Christopher Young. The soundtrack is amazing. Haunting. Beautiful. When I first saw this movie I actually searched to buy the soundtrack. I never do this. It's that good! Lastly, the gold nugget. This is a movie with a twist of an ending. Remember, it is 1992. This was not done to my recall at the time. Rent this, buy this movie and watch with close friends late at night when it rains. Trust me! A great movie for male-female company. OK...the actor I never saw before had one core scene and just for this it is worth watching. Enter the brilliance of Mr. John Malkovich! We have all seen many movies where FBI agent interrogates suspect. But Malkovich takes extremely well written dialogue and it comes alive off the page. He should have won something for this performance. What I thought was just another actor for a pivotal scene made the move. His nuances, tone, pace, timing...just being Malkovich is acting at the highest level. This should have been another scene in the movie and he now becomes a main character stealing the scenes. Incredible performance.Watch this movie. There are so many little details that are engaging. The time clock that speaks freaks you out. The empty light sockets. The sound of the mattress in the house. On and on...

After his 'cult hit' with Withnail & I, English writer/director (1988), went on to write and direct How To Get Ahead In Advertising (which I haven't yet seen) a year later (1989) and then, this, Jennifer 8 in 1992. It then wasn't until 19 years later, in 2011, that he directed his next film, the - for me, at least, underwhelming The Rum Diary. And I think you have to ask yourself why.Both Jennifer 8 and The Rum Diary suffer from the same failing: most of the bits and pieces are there, but they don't seem to be assembled in the right order. And crucially some still seem to be missing. That is especially the case with Jennifer 8. After a strong beginning, it seems to limp along, hinting at what kind of film it should be rather than being that film.Our central figure - the hero - is a cop who has moved to the styx from the LAPD, apparently once had a drink problem and was abandoned by his wife. I fancy these details are meant to make him interesting. But they don't: here they just mark him out as a certain kind of hero in a certain kind of film, and no more.Then there is the obsession Garcia, for he's the hero, has with tracking down a putative serial killer. It isn't explained why, and there's no particular suggestion as to why. And despite his boss informing him that there is a lot of other detective work to be getting on with, our hero seems simply to ignore anything else and get on with chasing the serial killer he is so certain exists. He is not popular in the department, but why is never obvious: in one rather jarring scene that is made clear, but why exactly.There are other, quite drastic signs that this just isn't a very good production: set in winter, the country is covered in snow one minutes, then the fields are green the next. There is one particular, quite crucial, scene which even takes places in a blizzard. The following day, the ground is as dry and snow-free as one might not hope for if you are a director with a real eye for detail.One gets the feeling that Robinson has seen a lot of these kind of 'psychological, suspense' thrillers and has set out to make one. Sadly, he simply doesn't succeed. There's precious little psychology and no suspense whatsoever.Finally, Garcia is just too nice to be the dedicated cop with inner demons. This role demanded someone of the calibre of Al Pacino and his ilk. Sad to say, but if you get the chance to watch this, pass it up.

The pounding monsoon here in Vancouver today reminded me of the slightly forgotten, excellently dour serial killer mystery Jennifer 8. In a torrential downpour, the body of a blind girl is discovered in a scrapyard, in one of the film's best sequences. Freddy Ross, sergeant on scene (Lance Henriksen in a rambunctious, really underrated performance) calls in his old friend, big city Detective John Berlin (a haggard Andy Garcia), to help investigate. Henriksen and Garcia strike up a believable buddy rapport that becomes the backbone of the story, and is nice to watch. They suspect that someone is specifically preying on blind girls, when they find related cases, and they must narrow down suspects before he strikes again. They find a lead in blind Helena (Uma Thurman) a cautious, fragile girl who may be able to, help them, and who John very quickly falls in love with. Soon the killer orchestrates clues that lead straight to John, and he has to deal with an obnoxious internal investigator (John Malkovich in full Christmas ham mode, showing up for maybe five minutes but chewing scenery like the Cookie Monster). Time starts to run out as the killer gets closer. Now, I guessed the identity of the killer halfway through the film, but that's mostly because I know the actor quite well and could just tell by certain distinct features, but don't worry, the surprise should remain intact for you. There's nice work from Lenny Von Dohlen, Kathy Baker, Graham Beckel, Bob Gunton and Kevin Conway too. The film relies on its two leads to get the job done, and they don't disappoint. It also has an advantage in its gloomy, rainy northern setting (much of it was filmed here), which gives that distinct atmosphere that these type of movies need to succeed. Well done.