The hungry rabbit jumps, eh?

Justice (aka Seeking Justice)

(2011)

Another routine but preposterous Nicolas Cage thriller. Nic's playing another beleaguered everyman type, not his forte, embroiling himself in a premise not a million miles from Strangers on a Train. To compare Roger Donaldson's film with Hitchcock is to give it far too much credit, though.

Following the brutal rape of his wife, Cage meets Simon (Guy Pearce, enjoying playing the heavy) who offers to bring justice to the man responsible in return for a favour at some point in the future. When it comes time to collect, there are predictably fraught results.

Donaldson keeps the momentum up, in his usual accomplished but journeyman way, but the script is a mess of clichés and it looks like some pruning has occurred (Jennifer Carpenter features for less than 5 minutes). The New Orleans setting seems relevant only because characters keeping referencing that this is where they are. The strongest aspect is probably the escalating paranoia of just who is part of Simon's organisation and how widespread it is, but even that feels a bit tired.

**1/2

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Lieutenant, you run this station like chicken night in Turkey.

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Now In Full Color, with a Happier Ending

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