Endgame Entertainment, Aura Film Partnership, Fierce Entertainment,
Nicolas Cage, January Jones, Guy Pearce, Harold Perrineau, Jennifer Carpenter, Xander Berkeley
Set in New Orleans, humble high school teacher Will Gerard (Nicholas Cage) lives with his wife, musician Laura Gerard (January Jones). One evening while Will is playing chess with a friend, Laura heads home, but was brutally attacked, beaten nearly to death and raped. While visiting her in the hospital, Will meets Simon (Guy Pearce) who lets him in on the secret that he is part of a vigilante group that helps people get justice outside the law for crimes like this. He lets Will know the police will likely never catch the guilty party and that even if they do, there is little chance of any decent payback. So he offers the help of the group to find and punish the guilty. Will jumps at the chance, but later finds to his regret that their help isn’t free. He is given the name of a pedophile and told he must take care of it to pay them back. It turns out things are not as it seems, and the tables have been turned on Will, and he finds himself in deep trouble. Is it too late to tell the truth, or will he have to just keep quiet about the truth he knows.
This is an action/crime story that is right up Cage’s alley. This is exactly the kind of role he is perfect for. But I didn’t get blown away with this film. It gets a bit cloudy somewhere in the middle, and you need to keep a close eye on what’s going on to keep from getting lost. It’s a lot more convoluted than it needed to be. A little cleanup on the script would have helped a lot. Though the story is fairly common, there are some twists and turns. But some turns were so tight that the logic is really stretched to the breaking point.
The best thing in the film is Guy Pearce who plays the heavy really well. He did a great job. Nicholas Cage is in the middle. He’s ok, but not record breaking. January Jones is probably the weak link. It’s a fair action film, but nothing major to write home about. Ok for a evening rental, but you can find much better unless you’re a huge Cage fan.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
