FILM DESCRIPTION: Private detective Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) lives a normal life with his wife (Catherine Keener) and young daughter, until he receives a startling new case. A widow named Mrs. Christian (Myra Carter) has found what appears to be a snuff film among her late husband's belongings, and she wants Welles to determine if the movie is real or fake. Welles heads to California, where a video store employee (Joaquin Phoenix) helps him infiltrate the dangerous and depraved world of illegal porn movies.
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00:01This thing I'm on right now has something to do with underground pornography.
00:04Stuff that's sold under the counter illegally.
00:07There's not much illegal out there.
00:09Well, whatever there is, whoever's dealing it, however it's done,
00:12I want to know. I want a good look.
00:13So if you've got that kind of connection, great.
00:15If not, speak now.
00:17You're not a cop, are you?
00:19If I ask you, and you are, you gotta tell me.
00:21I'm not a cop.
00:23You're a private detective, huh?
00:25Like Shaft.
00:26Waka waka waka waka.
00:28Say, you ever seen Private Dicks with John Holmes?
00:30I got it on sale.
00:31Alright, how much you making there?
00:33Oh.
00:35Around 400 bucks a week off the books.
00:38Let's pretend I live in the same fantasy world where you make 400 dollars a week in that dump.
00:43I'll give you 500 for a few days.
00:46Six sounds good, pops.
00:48Five.
00:50Here's my number.
00:56When can you start?
00:58Well, tomorrow night I get off late.
01:02Tomorrow.
01:03Alright.
01:04Oh, and, uh, don't call me pops.
01:08No, of course not. I didn't want to hurt your feelings.
01:13Look, I don't know what your scene is. You may like porn as much as the next guy, but you don't look like your average sleaze.
01:20More like your average fucking cop. So when you walk around asking people about fucking illegal stuff, it has a certain patina to it.
01:27Uh-huh. Patina?
01:29Yes, that's the Truman Capote word. Hello.
01:31If someone ever saw or sold a snuff film, they shouldn't give a damn what I ask about it. If they have, they got a right to be nervous.
01:37Whoever acts insulted you keep knocking on their door.
01:40Look, pops, it's not too late to change your mind about all this. I'm gonna tell you, there's things that you're gonna see that you can't unsee. They get in your head and they stay there.
01:49How do you know what I've seen?
01:50Okay, fine. But everybody's got their limit. Look, I've been here six fucking years trying to get my music together. So I start clerking part-time where I work, you know, to make ends meet. And boom, a couple years go by and here I am. I'm just saying, before you know it, you're in it. Deep in it.
02:09Don't worry about me. But thank you.
02:12Oh, you're welcome. Pops, dance with the devil. The devil don't change. The devil changes you.
