A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.
Acting
Phoenix's tragic, tender Max steals every scene.
Direction
Schumacher's grimy underbelly feels dangerously authentic.
Writing
Andrew Kevin Walker's script doesn't flinch.
Director
Joel Schumacher
Nicolas Cage
Tom Welles
Joaquin Phoenix
Max California
James Gandolfini
Eddie Poole
Peter Stormare
Dino Velvet
Anthony Heald
Longdale
Chris Bauer
Machine
Catherine Keener
Amy Welles
Myra Carter
Mrs. Christian
Amy Morton
Mrs. Mathews
Norman Reedus
Warren Anderson
Anne Gee Byrd
Senator
Jack Betts
Butler
Rachel Singer
Neighbor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Writer Andrew Kevin Walker also penned Seven; studio fought hard against this film's even bleaker ending.
Released months before the internet democratized the exact horrors it depicts, making it eerily prophetic.
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