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Eye for an Eye (1996)
It's no Death Wish, but a 1996 look at the concept of vigilante justice called Eye for an Eye does suffer from a problematic screenplay, but it is so well acted and directed that you almost don't notice.
Oscar winner Sally Field plays Karen McCann, a woman whose 17 year old daughter is brutally raped and murdered and though the police do bring the perpetrator to justice, he manages to get off on a technicality, which prompts Karen to take justice into her hands. Unfortunately, Karen doesn't have a clue as to how to go about this, evidenced in a lot of very dumb and dangerous moves to make this psycho pay.
The screenplay, based on a novel by Erica Holzer, is a compelling story but the combination of our heroine making a lot of dangerous moves and the screenplay being very protective of the villain make this a very difficult watch. The movie starts off brilliantly though, with director John Schlesinger's mounting of the horrific crime that is the hook for the film. Karen's daughter opens the door to her killer while talking on the phone to Karen, who is caught in a traffic jam and can't get to her daughter in time.
Other troublesome plot points included the fact that Karen's ex-husband and her daughter's father couldn't be troubled to return to town because of his daughter's death while Karen methodically begins shutting her current husband, Mack (Ed Harris) out of her plans. The grief support group turned out to be rather unsettling as it was revealed that these meetings were populated by people who could provide justice for people who wanted more than grief therapy. I also didn't like Mack and Karen letting their younger daughter run from them in that zoo after what happened and that scene in the school playground almost made me lose my lunch.
This film reminded me of another film Schlesinger directed called Pacific Heights that was just way too protective of the bad guy. There's no way that this guy should have gotten around everything he did and be allowed to walk around free as a bird for as long as he did. We know somehow that satisfaction is on the way, but it takes WAY too long to get to the terrific final showdown.
Sally Field offers her accustomed solid dramatic turn as Karen. The IMDB revealed that this role was originally offered to Jamie Lee Curtis, but I really liked Field. Field gets solid support from Harris and a bone-chilling turn from Kiefer Sutherland as the killer. It has its problems, but I couldn't turn away.
It's no Death Wish, but a 1996 look at the concept of vigilante justice called Eye for an Eye does suffer from a problematic screenplay, but it is so well acted and directed that you almost don't notice.
Oscar winner Sally Field plays Karen McCann, a woman whose 17 year old daughter is brutally raped and murdered and though the police do bring the perpetrator to justice, he manages to get off on a technicality, which prompts Karen to take justice into her hands. Unfortunately, Karen doesn't have a clue as to how to go about this, evidenced in a lot of very dumb and dangerous moves to make this psycho pay.
The screenplay, based on a novel by Erica Holzer, is a compelling story but the combination of our heroine making a lot of dangerous moves and the screenplay being very protective of the villain make this a very difficult watch. The movie starts off brilliantly though, with director John Schlesinger's mounting of the horrific crime that is the hook for the film. Karen's daughter opens the door to her killer while talking on the phone to Karen, who is caught in a traffic jam and can't get to her daughter in time.
Other troublesome plot points included the fact that Karen's ex-husband and her daughter's father couldn't be troubled to return to town because of his daughter's death while Karen methodically begins shutting her current husband, Mack (Ed Harris) out of her plans. The grief support group turned out to be rather unsettling as it was revealed that these meetings were populated by people who could provide justice for people who wanted more than grief therapy. I also didn't like Mack and Karen letting their younger daughter run from them in that zoo after what happened and that scene in the school playground almost made me lose my lunch.
This film reminded me of another film Schlesinger directed called Pacific Heights that was just way too protective of the bad guy. There's no way that this guy should have gotten around everything he did and be allowed to walk around free as a bird for as long as he did. We know somehow that satisfaction is on the way, but it takes WAY too long to get to the terrific final showdown.
Sally Field offers her accustomed solid dramatic turn as Karen. The IMDB revealed that this role was originally offered to Jamie Lee Curtis, but I really liked Field. Field gets solid support from Harris and a bone-chilling turn from Kiefer Sutherland as the killer. It has its problems, but I couldn't turn away.