Plot: A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max (Joaquin Phoenix), Welles relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife (Catherine Keener), family and simple life as a small-town private eye.