A clever initial idea and a compelling first act can't save this otherwise shopworn and mostly suspense-free film by a decent director, Roger Donaldson (Thirteen Days, The Bank Job), not in top form. A super subdued Nicolas Cage plays Will, a New Orleans English teacher whose beloved wife (January Jones) is beaten and raped one evening. In the heat of the moment, Will agrees when a bullet-headed, charismatic stranger who calls himself Simon (Guy Pearce) proposes a sinister deal: Simon's mysterious vigilante organization, a generic variation on Fight Club's Project Mayhem, will find and murder the rapist, and he will owe them a favor at a later date. When Simon contacts him again six months later, Will soon realizes he is in far too deep.

After a tense start, the film sadly ignores more interesting avenues exploring the thin line between right and wrong and becomes standard-issue fare with a threadbare conspiracy and empty-headed plot twists. Cage's character never has to contend with his early decision to sidestep the justice system in favor of a more brutal and instant solution; he is just cast as an anxious, decent husband caught in a web of conspiracy spun by one-note antagonists.

Pearce, with his shaved head, tailored suits, and insinuating manner, does his best with a wafer-thin role, but Jones, though as beautiful as ever, is a woeful example of miscasting. Not only are she and Cage one of the least convincing screen couples in recent memory, but her characteristic icy acting undermines the role. As played by Jones, Will's wife is almost as distant and vacant before the sexual assault as she is after.

The film tries now and then to hit graceful genre notes, but every attempt, the car chases and armed confrontations in particular, is a tad anemic, and the very ending is so halfhearted as to be groan-inducing. Also squandered are real NOLA locations. There are even references to the city's history, but its colors, spirits, and textures can never be sensed in the flatly composed and lit images.

C-

Seeking Justice

The "Nic Cage New Orleans Saga" continues! I'd class it on the right side of good. I enjoyed the film, Nic Cage's performance, and the story is actually a very original and unique one. If I was in his shoes, I'd go through with it all. I'd love to think I was ridding the world of pedophiles and rapists. Thing is, in Will's case, he just got given the wrong hit -- it was to shut up a reporter that found out about their organisation, rather than a hit to kill a nonce or a scumbag. The idea of the film is great. Guy Pearce was cool, if underused, and everyone else was fine. The first half of the film was good, and it set up the second half of the film, but it just fell flat with a fast ending. They could have done something more heightened for the finale.

At least this was much better than Stolen and Season of the Witch.

B

It's a film with decent performances from nice cast, Nic Cage makes the most of it and I like Jones in it too, but Guy Pearce does feel wasted. And it's a interesting story that plays to the imagination too. Unfortunately the result is quite lackluster, it's not very well paced and more playing into some general thriller tropes that keep things moving along without standing out. It serves fine for a throwaway watch without expecting much.

C+