Details

Release year: 1999

Storyline

A private investigator is hired to discover if a "snuff film" is authentic or not.

Top credits

Directors

Joel Schumacher

Writers

Andrew Kevin Walker

Cast

Nicolas Cage — Tom Welles
Joaquin Phoenix — Max California
James Gandolfini — Eddie Poole
Peter Stormare — Dino Velvet

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Did you know

• The actress (Jenny Powell) playing the character of Mary Ann Mathews was originally a stripper hired to act as a stand-in. Joel Schumacher gave her the part of the victim on the 8mm film as she had a suitably "haunted" look about her.

• David Fincher was the first choice to direct this film.

• Russell Crowe agreed to do the film with Joel Schumacher when the film was slated to be a "dirty, handheld gritty thriller." Crowe had one stipulation to all this and it was the scene where his character is looking at the kiddie porn and throws it in the trash. He throws a cigarette so it would start burning inside the trash can. Schumacher agreed. Then out of the blue, Nicolas Cage's agent called Schumacher and told him that he wanted to do the film as well. Schumacher then contacted John Calley at Sony and told him that they could do the film with Crowe as a "low budget, dirty handheld camera thriller" or a much bigger film with Cage. Calley then agreed to do the film with Cage as the lead which eventually led to a much bigger budget. Schumacher realized Cage was right for the part when Cage reportedly told him, "I want to play a role I can internalize instead of my normal schtick."