Jennifer Eight

John Chard

The blind leading the blind. Jennifer 8 is written and directed by Bruce Robinson. It stars Andy Garcia, Uma Thurman, John Malkovich, Lance Henriksen, Kathy Baker and Graham Beckel. Music is by Christopher Young and cinematography by Conrad Hall. The small town of Eureka and John Berlin (Garcia) is the new cop in the precinct. When a severed hand is found at the local dump it leads Berlin to believe a serial killer is at work. One who has a penchant for blind girls. The problems quickly mounted up for Jennifer 8, it flopped big in America and went straight to home format release in the UK. Problems back stage got so bad that Bruce Robinson quit Hollywood and never made another film for 19 years! In spite of these facts, it’s not the monstrosity it was originally painted as back on its “limited” release. It’s a frustrating film in many ways because it promises so much. There’s bags of moody atmospherics wrung out by Conrad Hall’s superb photography, where he filters most things via minimal lighting. Much of the play unfolds in ominous surroundings, where dialogue exchanges are either hushed or laced with harried fervour, and the writing is actually quite smart as it blends psycho thriller staples with strong characterisations that are in turn boosted by committed acting performances. Yet these things can’t compensate for the too long run time, a rushed ending and some awkward tonal shifts that often take you out of the required mood. The rushed ending is particularly galling, after asking the audience to stay with the pic for two hours, it’s not unreasonable to expect a good long and dramatic finale, sadly that’s not the case. Fans of neo-noir type visuals have some interest here, as does anyone who likes the type of serial killer movies that dominated the late 80s and early 90s before Fincher’s Seven raised the bar. 6/10

The revie written by John Card is totally trash. This is not a "frustrating" film in any way and doesn't have a "rushed" ending neither. The ending lasts something like 20 minutes. This movie is worth more than just 6 points.

CinemaSerf

Andy Garcia could never really be described as versatile, and he goes quite a way to prove it here in this rather unremarkable crime drama. He is "Berlin", a recently divorced LA cop who is just about burnt out. Luckily, his pal "Freddy" (Lance Henriksen) offers him a less stressful job in his rural force which he leaps at. Once there, though, he alights on a rather curious case that involved the murder of local blind girls. Despite considerable effort, the police could make little progress and the case had gone cold, but he risks putting noses out of joint as he tries to get to the bottom of things. His best ally soon turns out to be "Helena" (Uma Thurman) whose flatmate was the final - thus far - victim. The pair bond instantly but when an unexpected tragedy unfolds, "Berlin" finds himself the subject of an investigation and, bailed, the two and "Margie" (Kathy Baker) must discover the truth before... It's not a bad story, and the blind angle allows Bruce Robinson to develop a few more of the sensory perspectives to the usual serial killer drama - with Thurman quite engaging. The rest of the acting talent here is pretty weak, though, as is the writing - lots and lots of it. If it had lost maybe half an hour, the tightened narrative would probably have worked more efficiently - but at over two hours it is all just far too slow a burn, and what efforts are made to generate a sense of menace are undermined by a really bland score and some rather ordinary visuals. A television movie that passes the time, but more fodder than fun.

Good movie, great ending. Thurman and Garcia work well together, and the surprise ending is one even jaded old me did not expect. I recommend this to everyone who thinks the serial killer genre has been played out.