Review of Seeking Justice (2011) by Damon H — 28 Aug 2012

"The hungry rabbit jumps". Indeed. Inventively skewing the time-honored American tradition of the revenge film, thriller director Roger Donaldson entertains with a film that throws the formula on its head with a vigilante group gone too far.

The first half of the movie works very well as Cage's mild-mannered teacher, Gerard gets pulled into a strange world of anonymous citizens seeking justice on their own terms. The setting of New Orleans adds some substance to the talk of 'a city gone to hell' but admittedly little of the movie holds much atmosphere (compare with Deja Vu, just as an example).

After a haphazard record the last few years of not really connecting with the tone of the movie he's in, Cage appears to actually want to be in this movie and his performance shows. Although the movie indulges in some hard to believe plot mechanics in the last half, Cage still convinces when the movie calls for action hero mode out of this supposed average high school teacher.

Guy Pearce does his usual solid work here, a part he could do with his eyes closed. The twists and turns of the movie are actually quite engaging as is the questions of morality that are briefly touched upon in the movie.

The notions of vigilante justice and conspiracy are deftly handled here. It's really a shame that this Cage movie didn't get as wide a release as some of his lesser output. Not a great film, but certainly entertaining and gives you a few things to talk about once its done.