Jennifer Eight seems to often get described as a 'sleeper' - and I agree with that description, although not for the same reason. This film is not a hidden gem; the reason it hasn't matured with a good reputation is simple; for a thriller, there's just not enough excitement. Bruce Robinson's film is very well made; it has a good cast and they all perform well, but that really counts for nothing when the story is not interesting enough to keep the audience interested for the overlong two hour running time. Our central character is John Berlin; a police detective on the trail of a serial killer. The severed hand of a young girl has turned up in a parking lot and the detective soon starts to believe that the murder may be connected to an unsolved case that happened in the town some years previously. His investigation leads him to a blind institute where he meets and is attracted to a young blind girl named Helena. His suspicions about the new murder being connected to the old are not well received by his fellow cops; although he soon fears that Helena may be in danger.
Director Bruce Robinson is best known as the writer and director of the seminal classic Withnail & I, but apparently his writing skills don't lend themselves to the crime genre very well. Jennifer Eight suffers from far too many drawn out and boring scenes where nothing really much happens, and even the film's most exciting moments aren't exactly exciting. The major problem is the fact that the film tries to blend two big story lines and doesn't have the capacity to do so. The romance between the police officer and the blind girl takes up far too much time and is both boring and plotted out in an unlikely manner. This leaves the murder plot almost a spare wheel in it's own film, and the way that the plot takes another turn midway through only helps to distract more, meaning that by the end we don't really care who the murderer is. The film's saving grace is the acting. I've never been a fan of Andy Garcia but he's solid in the lead role and gets good back-up from the always reliable Lance Henriksen. Uma Thurman doesn't really get to do much other than play the token 'victim' blind girl, and John Malkovich steals the show once he gets on screen. Overall, this film really is a big disappointment and doesn't really deserve digging up any time soon.
Director Bruce Robinson is best known as the writer and director of the seminal classic Withnail & I, but apparently his writing skills don't lend themselves to the crime genre very well. Jennifer Eight suffers from far too many drawn out and boring scenes where nothing really much happens, and even the film's most exciting moments aren't exactly exciting. The major problem is the fact that the film tries to blend two big story lines and doesn't have the capacity to do so. The romance between the police officer and the blind girl takes up far too much time and is both boring and plotted out in an unlikely manner. This leaves the murder plot almost a spare wheel in it's own film, and the way that the plot takes another turn midway through only helps to distract more, meaning that by the end we don't really care who the murderer is. The film's saving grace is the acting. I've never been a fan of Andy Garcia but he's solid in the lead role and gets good back-up from the always reliable Lance Henriksen. Uma Thurman doesn't really get to do much other than play the token 'victim' blind girl, and John Malkovich steals the show once he gets on screen. Overall, this film really is a big disappointment and doesn't really deserve digging up any time soon.