There are so many action thriller flicks that seem to pop up every week, each with basically the same purpose - to outdo the pyrotechnics and car chases of the others - and while Nicholas Cage has participated in a number of these, this particular film SEEKING JUSTCE, while not an entirely new idea, offers Cage a chance to once again impress the audience. The film is a tightly written one (Todd Hickey and Robert Tannen) and solidly directed by Roger Donaldson and is fortunately graced with a cast of actors who make the strange mixture of characters credible.
The setting is New Orleans where Will Gerard (Nicholas Cage) is an English teacher at Rampart High, the kind of teacher who cares about his rather unruly students and shares his love for teaching with his fellow teacher and friend Jimmy (Harold Perrineau). Will is happily married to Laura (January Jones), a cellist who rehearses frequently with her chamber music ensemble. One night, Laura leaves a rehearsal and is brutally assaulted and raped while Will is playing chess with Jimmy. When Will is visiting her in the hospital, out of the blue a stranger named Simon (Guy Pearce) tells him that he belongs to an organization of vigilantes and offers to eliminate the assailant. In return, the organization would want a favor from Will in the future. Will hesitantly agrees, and the criminal is murdered. Six months later, while Laura is still paranoid about leaving the house and lives in fear, Simon collects his debt with Will. He demands that Will kill Alan Marsh, a pedophile. Will accidentally kills Alan and soon he learns that the victim was an awarded journalist that was investigating the organization. Now he seeks evidences to prove his innocence but the network of the organization is powerful and is seeking out Will to eliminate him.
There is a strong supporting cast including Jennifer Carpenter and Xander Berkeley who help make the strange intertwining of characters morphing from good guys to bad guys and back again work smoothly. And while the film is a strong one in general, the pleasure is to finally see Nicholas Cage given a script in which he can excel.
Grady Harp,
The setting is New Orleans where Will Gerard (Nicholas Cage) is an English teacher at Rampart High, the kind of teacher who cares about his rather unruly students and shares his love for teaching with his fellow teacher and friend Jimmy (Harold Perrineau). Will is happily married to Laura (January Jones), a cellist who rehearses frequently with her chamber music ensemble. One night, Laura leaves a rehearsal and is brutally assaulted and raped while Will is playing chess with Jimmy. When Will is visiting her in the hospital, out of the blue a stranger named Simon (Guy Pearce) tells him that he belongs to an organization of vigilantes and offers to eliminate the assailant. In return, the organization would want a favor from Will in the future. Will hesitantly agrees, and the criminal is murdered. Six months later, while Laura is still paranoid about leaving the house and lives in fear, Simon collects his debt with Will. He demands that Will kill Alan Marsh, a pedophile. Will accidentally kills Alan and soon he learns that the victim was an awarded journalist that was investigating the organization. Now he seeks evidences to prove his innocence but the network of the organization is powerful and is seeking out Will to eliminate him.
There is a strong supporting cast including Jennifer Carpenter and Xander Berkeley who help make the strange intertwining of characters morphing from good guys to bad guys and back again work smoothly. And while the film is a strong one in general, the pleasure is to finally see Nicholas Cage given a script in which he can excel.
Grady Harp,