Jennifer Eight (1992)

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

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.

I knew once I had started watching this that I had seen it before - a long time ago as a teenager watching a late night movie. I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed watching it now again. Some of the performances are brilliant. John Malkovich gives a mesmerising turn as the prosecuting detective. Andy Garcia is convincing overall and Uma Thurman was very believable in a part that's hard to play. Lance Henriksen and Graham Beckel are great and tend to be those guys you've seen in lots of movies but can't quite place. Overall it is engaging and builds up to a thrilling pace. Unfortunately it does go over the top as too many twists and turns take us to a very abrupt ending. I couldn't help but expect more from it. The plot is terrifying - a serial killer of blind women. It started right. It just took off at some stage into the realms of the wildly unbelievable. I think that the plot and the cast probably deserved more. If it was more measured, brooding and clean in it's execution it could have been a great. This isn't to say that it's not a good movie. It is and it's worth a watch if you like your thrillers.

"John Berlin" (Andy Garcia) is a police detective who has recently moved from Los Angeles to the small Californian town of Euricka further up north. As soon as he gets there he encounters a certain degree of hostility from one of the cops named "John Taylor" (Graham Beckel) who feels the position should have gone to him. He also discovers that a possible serial killer is murdering women but nobody in the police department seems willing to support him except for his old friend and mentor "Detective Freddy Ross" (Lance Henriksen). Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that it had a pretty good plot. Unfortunately, the pace was much too slow and there appeared to be too much detail given to various mundane issues to the detriment of suspense and action. Even so I liked the performances of both Andy Garcia and Lance Henriksen and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I would not have seen this movie, if i hadn't seen some of the reviewers calling it an 'Under-rated gem'. This movie claims to be of the Crime/Drama/Mystery genre. Here are some of my thoughts on the movie. John Berlin(Garcia)discovers a derelict's body in a landfill site who is suspected "to have offed himself with a knife". He also finds a brassiere & a hand. I was surprised that Berlin was going after the hand & the brassiere instead of the derelict who was in one piece. Garcia ends up falling in love(quite unsurprisingly!!) with the blind, Helena (Uma Thurman, as great as usual). And obviously the serial killer is after Helena, and Berlin is hell bound on protecting her. That takes care of the drama. As for the mystery, if you follow the movie close enough you get a good idea who the killer is, 24 minutes into the movie. And you know who it is for sure, another 20 minutes later. An hour later, the movie just abruptly ended. It seemed so rushed (i mean come on, i had to wait another hour, to know why the serial killer, kills and to know how he will be caught) and i found myself saying *beep*, who killed the *beep* derelict ?? So watch this movie for the good acting. Garcia, Thurman,Henriksen & Malkovitch put up a great show. It was a treat to watch St.Anne, interrogate, Berlin.