Seeking Justice

Death Wish goes the corporate route in filmmaker Roger Donaldson's Seeking Justice, a silly action-thriller that posits the existence of a New Orleans vigilante group that is set up like a Ponzi scheme: namely, the unnamed outfit approaches victims of crime—or spouses/survivors—and offers to kill the perpetrator in return for a pledge to do a future “favor” for the group, usually by serving as a hit-person. The newest recruit is high school English teacher Will Gerard (Nicolas Cage), who is contacted by smooth-talking Simon (Guy Pearce) after Will's wife (January Jones) is brutally raped. After a bit of soul-searching, Will accepts Simon's proposal, resulting in the death of the sleazy attacker (made to look like an apparent suicide). Before long, Will is assigned to maintain surveillance on a man identified as a child pornographer—and then told to kill him. When Will demurs, he finds himself in the crosshairs of both the police and Simon's organization, essentially at the center of a long chase in which Will tries desperately to expose the vigilantes and protect his wife while avoiding Simon's goons and the authorities. Pearce makes a fine mystery man, while Cage delivers one of his better recent performances, but the story ultimately grows incoherent, losing its suspense even as it serves up loads of foot-and-car pursuits and hair's-breadth escapes. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette (7 min.) and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a muddled film.] (F. Swietek)