Film Review: Jennifer 8 (1992)

For some films things that were supposed to be their assets turn into their liabilities. This is what happened with Jennifer 8, 1992 thriller written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Protagonist, played by Andy Garcia, is Sergeant John Berlin, jaded former LAPD detective who has just accepted invitation from his brother-in-law Sergeant Freddy Ross (played by Lance Henriksen) to come to small Northern California town of Eureka and join its police force. Discovery of a woman’s severed hand in local garbage dump makes Berlin to re-open investigation of unsolved murder nicknamed “Jennifer”. Case gets even more complicated when Berlin deduces that this is just one of many murders committed by serial killer whose target happen to be blind women. One of its potential victims might be student in nearby college for the blind which had been missing. Berlin goes there to question her room mate and music teacher Helena Robertson (played by Uma Thurman). Investigation, hampered by scepticism from police chief Citrine (played by Kevin Conway) and Sergeant John K. Taylor (played by Graham Beckel), gets complicated when Berlin falls in love with Helen and even more complicated when he becomes murder suspect himself.

For British actor and screenwriter Bruce Robinson, whose directorial debut Whitnail and I had received minor cult status, Jennifer 8 represented opportunity to become major Hollywood player. A lot of resources and talented were involved in the project – experienced cinematographer Conrad L. Hall created effective dark atmosphere with plenty of scenes featuring rain and snow, while Robinson also enjoyed very good cast in supporting roles, among which John Malkovich stood out in relatively small role of hostile FBI agent questioning Berlin. Unfortunately, Robinson’s script left too much to be desired. The blindness of a major female character and romance subplot were nothing more than lame attempt to spice up what was actually rather generic murder mystery, with actual murder culprit being relatively easy to pick. The ending, which tried to deviate from cliches some with an interesting twist, didn’t do much to improve generally disappointing impression. But the worst thing about Jennifer 8 was the casting of Andy Garcia, very good actor who simply looked too good and too boyish for the role of jaded police detective what had been, according to Robinson himself, written for much older actor, someone like Gene Hackman or Al Pacino (who had played similar character in Sea of Love). Jennifer 8 failed at box office and among critics, and even got humiliating direct-to-video distribution in Robinson’s native country. Robinson didn’t direct another film for almost two decades, until even more disappointing Rum Diary.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

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