How Far are You Willing to Go to Seek Justice?


By Todd A. Smith


 ½


            Imagine that your beautiful wife is brutally raped.  While she lies in a hospital bed struggling to recover, you are approached by a gentleman who says he knows who the perpetrator is.  His name is Simon (Guy Pearce), and he says that he is not affiliated with the New Orleans Police Department but he seeks justice when cops are unable or unwilling to.


            Simon says that he works for an organization that is fed up with seeing New Orleans invaded by criminals and watching a corrupt police department ignore the realities around them.  If you accept his help, all you have to promise is that you will return the favor to the organization at some later time by possibly breaking security cameras and making a few phone calls, etc.


            That is the predicament Will Gerard (Nicolas Cage) finds himself in the Seeking Justice movie.  Will is a dedicated public school teacher in a dangerous New Orleans high school.  He has a beautiful wife Laura (January Jones) and dedicated friends like co-worker Jimmy (Harold Perrineau from The Best Man). 


            Will decides to take Simon’s offer and his wife’s rapist is murdered in his home by a nervous and reluctant killer.


            Life begins to return to normal for Will and Laura in the Seeking Justice movie until it is his turn to return a favor to the organization.  Simon wants Will to kill Alan Marsh, a pedophile.  Although he is initially unwilling to go through with his end of the “agreement,” he ultimately accidentally kills Alan Marsh like he is ordered to do by the organization.


            Nevertheless, Will finds out that Marsh was no pedophile, but an award winning journalist determined to expose the organization for their vigilante work.


            The Seeking Justice movie manages to remain exciting yet unpredictable, especially when Will finds out some of the most respected people he knows are associated with the organization.  However, anybody victimized by crime can empathize with the people who call on the organization to seek justice.  Unfortunately for the organization, they began killing anyone Simon feels is unworthy to live, from whistleblowers to those who renege on their agreement.


            The Seeking Justice movie does a great job of showing the violence of a city like New Orleans, but also shows what can lead someone to violence.  In the Seeking Justice movie, Will is determined to rid his high school of violence and expose the children to a different life through literature, but is forced into a violent lifestyle himself because of his surroundings.  Being surrounded by violence sometimes leads society’s most vulnerable to violence, like inner-city schoolchildren.


            After the death of Marsh, Will finds himself fighting to prove his innocence to law enforcement officials and protect Laura from the vigilantes that mysteriously come into his life.  He learns that those hired to protect and serve sometimes only serve themselves.  Furthermore, he learns that all so-called friends might not be trustworthy, but real friendships prevail at the end of the day.


            The Seeking Justice movie will be a hit with moviegoers who see it, but not necessarily a hit at the box office because of lack of promotion.  Nevertheless, if you are looking for thrills that do not involve March Madness this weekend, the Seeking Justice movie will not be a disappointment.


 


REGAL RATINGS


FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT


THREE CROWNS=GOOD


TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE


ONE CROWN=POOR


Smith is publisher of Regal Magazine, a publication dedicated to the African American community.

Leave a Reply