Reviews/Film; A Serial Killer, a Blind Girl and a Footloose Detective

By JANET MASLIN
Published: November 6, 1992, Friday

Andy Garcia has a profile to recall Barrymore's, which is as good a reason as any to watch "Jennifer 8," in which he steps up to a starring role. As Detective John Berlin, Mr. Garcia smolders his way through this story of a serial killer, a beautiful blind witness (Uma Thurman) and a footloose detective trying to make his way in a new town. Professionalism is not necessarily John Berlin's strongest suit. "I'll tell you what," he says to Helena, the blind girl. "If I promise to stop being a cop, will you promise to stop being a witness?"

Most detective thrillers keep an eye toward the extracurricular, but in "Jennifer 8" this tendency goes unusually far. The writer and director Bruce Robinson, who also directed "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" and "Withnail and I," seems strongly drawn to his supporting characters and their colorful lives. Sometimes this can go too far: the fact that Berlin's boss (Kevin Conway) sports a scraggly beard and likes to paint by numbers probably reveals more about him than any audience wants to know. Still, Mr. Robinson has created a lively array of small-town figures in northern California, and given them stories that stretch beyond the limits of a suspense plot.

This is a lucky thing, since the film's mystery eventually proves to be its weakest element. Though Mr. Robinson begins on a note that seems brutal even for this genre -- a severed hand covered with old noodles, found at a garbage dump -- he quickly abandons any taste for such unpleasantness. Indeed, the film's subsequent gentleness can be downright bizarre, or at least precedent-setting. This may be the only thriller in which a blind woman is stalked by a killer in an abandoned house, cornered by him, and then given a warning and allowed to go free.

Just as the plot softens during "Jennifer 8," so, too, does John Berlin. Initially displaying great deductive skills, he can figure out what a pattern of tiny scars on the hand means. But he later becomes significantly slower on the uptake. Increasing attention is paid to Mr. Garcia's ability to hold the film together through sheer force of personality, which is not always an easy task. This actor has a quiet appeal that is put to the test by the film's own quiet stretches, which may be why he occasionally bursts into flashes of hoarse, unexpected rage. The star, while skilled and eminently watchable, sometimes winds up being overshadowed by those around him.

It doesn't help that Ms. Thurman, playing Helena on a wan, neurasthenic note, seldom summons the requisite passion once Helena and John have begun an affair. During the latter part of the film, when much of John's energy is devoted to protecting Helena, his actions are made to seem more purposeless than they should. This leads to a denouement that is nothing if not bewildering, especially since "Jennifer 8" begins on such a hardboiled note. (Incidentally, the title is a kind of John Doe reference to the serial killer's string of victims, most of whom are never even discussed during the story.)

Among the attention-getting supporting characters are Kathy Baker and Lance Henriksen as the long-lost friends who have helped John land this new job after the breakup of his marriage; Ms. Baker gushes convincingly over the new arrival while Mr. Henriksen, as her husband, becomes John's sidekick and mentor on the job. John Malkovich has an utterly scene-stealing turn as the interrogator who grills Berlin once he himself has become a crime suspect. Mr. Malkovich's sly, languid confidence is so absolute that it upstages the less solid characters who surround him.

One of the most surprising things about "Jennifer 8," a strikingly atmospheric film even when not an entirely convincing one, is a running time that is in excess of two hours. Losing 20 minutes would almost certainly have heightened the film's sense of purpose, which is sometimes in danger of drifting away. Conrad Hall's evocative cinematography, which accentuates the damp, forbidding climate in which the story takes place, is especially helpful in keeping this otherwise rambling thriller on track.

"Jennifer 8" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes nudity, profanity and a few brief ghoulish touches. Jennifer 8 Written and directed by Bruce Robinson; director of photography, Conrad L. Hall; edited by Conrad Buff; music by Christopher Young; production designer, Richard MacDonald; produced by Gary Lucchesi and David Wimbury; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 127 minutes. This film is rated R. John Berlin . . . Andy Garcia Helena Robertson . . . Uma Thurman Freddy Ross . . . Lance Henriksen Margie Ross . . . Kathy Baker John Taylor . . . Graham Beckel Citrine . . . Kevin Conway St. Anne . . . John Malkovich