A couple of years ago I saw 8MM and learned about this movie, which supposedly served as an inspiration. It's true, they're both very similar. The plot is different, but the essence is pretty much the same. A regular man gets involved in the sleazy world of pornography, where he discovers the worst of mankind.
In this case, the point is taken to the extreme, because they spend like 10 minutes making sure we understand that the main character is a devout, religious man. Therefore, the impact of seeing his daughter in a porno movie is greater: indeed, we see him go nuts in the cinema, with the memorable shout of "turn it off!!!".
We can see Jake, the protagonist, slowly become entrapped in this world. An usually calm and respectful man, he resorts to violence in more than one occasion, product of his disgust and frustration, and we suffer alongside him. The way he finally manages to get to his daughter back is well done, although I do have two major complaints regarding this part of the movie.
First, the ending is rushed. We don't see the aftermath nor the consequences of his crusade, and everything basically wraps up in a matter of minutes; not to mention, we don't know what happens to Niki, the prostitute who he enrolls to help him. Second, his daughter pretty much tells him that she did it willingly because he never loved her. The problem I have with this, is that we never see this lack of love. Quite the contrary, in fact. At the beginning he seems to be a loving and caring father, so it was a little bit jarring to have her say that.
Still, it's a very powerful and entertaining movie. The lack of explicit violence or sex, except some boobs here and there, actually makes it more profound, instead of exploitative, like 8MM.
Very recommended!
In this case, the point is taken to the extreme, because they spend like 10 minutes making sure we understand that the main character is a devout, religious man. Therefore, the impact of seeing his daughter in a porno movie is greater: indeed, we see him go nuts in the cinema, with the memorable shout of "turn it off!!!".
We can see Jake, the protagonist, slowly become entrapped in this world. An usually calm and respectful man, he resorts to violence in more than one occasion, product of his disgust and frustration, and we suffer alongside him. The way he finally manages to get to his daughter back is well done, although I do have two major complaints regarding this part of the movie.
First, the ending is rushed. We don't see the aftermath nor the consequences of his crusade, and everything basically wraps up in a matter of minutes; not to mention, we don't know what happens to Niki, the prostitute who he enrolls to help him. Second, his daughter pretty much tells him that she did it willingly because he never loved her. The problem I have with this, is that we never see this lack of love. Quite the contrary, in fact. At the beginning he seems to be a loving and caring father, so it was a little bit jarring to have her say that.
Still, it's a very powerful and entertaining movie. The lack of explicit violence or sex, except some boobs here and there, actually makes it more profound, instead of exploitative, like 8MM.
Very recommended!