Seeking Justice (2012)

Wonderful Movie

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Somewhat based on The Star Chamber, 1983, do not give up on Nicolas Cage and even that plodding plot, because after all, he has convinced me many, many times he is a very handsome man. THAT in itself is great acting...... Olivier comes to mind. Guy Pearce? Wasted in a throw-away role. Watch for Cage though, he always delivers.

This is one of the better movies that Cage has been in in recent memory but that's not exactly saying too much if we're looking at his track record. Still, it's an enjoyable thriller full of your standard twists and turns that we are accustomed to seeing from this genre. There's a few other "big" names in this in Pearce & Jones which is nice. Script is okay, directing is okay. This is the type of movie you'd probably flip on halfway through on USA on a lazy Sunday afternoon and watch the last 45 minutes. Nothing special but could be worse.

JUSTICE is a film about doing what is right...which was made in New Orleans for tax purposes. It sees Nic Cage, complete with fright- wig, as one of those liberal teachers who really thinks that Shakespeare will turn around the lives of his violent pupils (pretty much the only black characters in the film). He's happily married to a shop dummy, who gets raped by a criminal. When Guy Pearce, slumming it, turns up and offers him vigilante justice he quickly accepts, using a convoluted method that involves buying a snack (really). Of course the vigilantes want him to do something for them and before he knows it he's being chased by the cops and the vigilantes after being involved in the death of an investigative reporter. Not one moment or character feels remotely believable, let alone the idea that a secret band of vigilantes have infiltrated the entirety of Louisiana. In addition, boring action scenes and absurd detective work ensure that this is one for the bargain bin.

Nicolas Cage gives a decent performance in an utterly preposterous, but moderately entertaining, suspense thriller. In SEEKING JUSTICE, Nicolas Cage plays a high school English teacher whose wife is raped. He is then approached by a mysterious man named Simon (Guy Pearce) who offers to have the rapist "taken care of," in exchange for Cage to do a favor for him in the future. What he doesn't find out until later is, that Simon (and a lot of other people) are part of a secretive group which doles out vigilante justice. Cage has qualms about fulfilling his "favor" and ends up being targeted. What unfolds is actually fairly engaging despite being completely convoluted. There is real tension as Will (Cage's character) and his wife Laura (January Jones) try to evade the group. The secretive nature of the group also means that they don't always know who to trust. The movie is capably directed by Roger Donaldson, and the action sequences are adequately shot. There's also a car chase scene which wasn't too bad. Scoring wasn't too memorable, although it wasn't annoying. The biggest weakness is obviously the premise, coupled with the writing. There are quite a few supporting characters, and none of them are really fleshed out that well. However, once you get into the meat of the story you probably won't notice. It's only when holding the movie up to close scrutiny that it begins to fall apart. This was one of three movies that Nicolas Cage released in 2012, and it's easily the best one, surpassing the abysmal GHOST RIDER 2 and STOLEN. Overall, it's not a bad rental as long as you're not expecting a masterpiece.