Title: Seeking Justice
Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Nicolas Cage, January Jones and Guy Pearce
Running time: 105 minutes, Rated R
Special Features: Behind the scenes featurette
Will Gerard is a New Orleans High School English teacher. He has a beautiful wife, a happy marriage and good friends. Suddenly his seemingly perfect life is shattered one night when his wife is beaten and raped. At the hospital, Will is approached by a mysterious man named Simon who offers his organization’s services to “take out” his wife’s rapist at no charge, only for a returned unspecified favor at a later time. Will agrees, and the attacker is executed. Six months later, Simon contacts Will to claim the favor. His assignment is to stalk a target’s family and then murder the target who happens to be a pedophile. After the target dies, Will discovers the target was not a pedophile, but a journalist who was privy to information about the vigilante organization and now Will is being set up for their crimes of “justice.”
While this film was enjoyable for the most part, I found myself getting irritated at the characters for their consistent stupid mistakes. Will stalks the family and thinks his favor is done…? His wife’s rapist was murdered, how does stalking a mother and her children a fair trade? If someone attacked my spouse and a guy approached me saying they’d “take him out” for a favor, I would only assume it would be an eye for an eye. Will’s wife Laura goes to a shooting range to learn how to shoot. At one point she gets a hold of a gun and doesn’t use it, she just runs away holding the gun. C’mon really?! She had a clear shot of the bad guy and she chose to run. She does eventually use the gun, but the entire scene leading up to it was just drawn out and lame. The whole time I was yelling at the screen, “Ok shoot him now…shoot now…why aren’t you shooting?!”
The pacing of the film was really rushed in the beginning, and the ending was really predictable. The start of the film was full of scenes of Will and Laura being loving and passionate, but it was overwhelming and disingenuous. Yeah we get that we’re supposed to believe you love each other. I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry. I didn’t get why they cast Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter in such a throw away part. I was excited to see her cast, but really disappointed in her role. Fans of The Walking Dead will get to see T-Dog eat some asphalt, which was unexpected. Guy Pierce’s part as Simon could’ve been given to anyone as I didn’t feel it showcased his talent at all. Xander Berkeley had a great part, but not a lot of screen time either. I guess if Nicolas Cage wasn’t in the scene, the secondary characters are just filler.
Seeking Justice is fast paced and suspenseful and a safe date night rental. It isn’t one of Nicolas Cage’s best, but it’s still entertaining.
Total Rating: B
Reviewed by: JM Willis
