Hardcore 1979

Hardcore is a mystery/thriller about a father (Jake) searching for his missing daughter (Kristen), in the land of underground porn. I don't know how much this film inspired 8mm, but the similarities were too many to have been insignificant.
The movie feels very subdued, especially considering the subject matter. I get the sense that there was a longer cut of this that would have been given an NC-17, but it was cut down to an R. I think the real problem for me was that there were no stakes, there was never a looming cloud of danger.
Another issue was our protagonist himself, his emotional drive was all over the place: seemingly out of nowhere he'd have a brilliant plan, then make stupid moves, then lose total control, then be very kind. More than once I had to ask myself, "is this our hero?"
Story wise, I was much more interested in Beatrice (a sex worker who is helping Jake to find his daughter) and I hated that she just left at the end. Jake just walks over to talk to her, she looks hurt, and walks away. What happened? She deserved a better ending.
The other big problem was Kristen's arc, which is more of a twist ending. Okay, so I didn't buy the reveal that she ran away, and was not kidnapped. I mean, if her home life was so bad that she wanted to run away, it was never shown. So, to expect me to believe that she would not only run away from home, but find people who would make a porn movie with an underage girl, and eventually hookup with a guy who makes snuff films, there's a limit to how far my disbelief will stretch.
There are good moments here, but overall it misses the mark: too many loose threads, a flat ending, and for a movie called hardcore, it never had moments that hit hard enough for it to all feel real.
Also, what was with the Star Wars references? There were three of them.
Ultimately, not a bad movie, just weak.