The Age of Commercialism

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Karen McCann (Sally Field) is preparing the birthday party of her younger daughter Megan (Alexandra Kyle). Her older daughter Julie (Olivia Burnette) goes home earlier in the afternoon to help in the preparation and talks by phone with her mother that is in a traffic jam. Out of the blue, a man breaks in the house and rapes and kills Julie. Det. Sgt. Denillo (Joe Mantegna) is in charge of the investigation and captures the killer Robert Doob (Kiefer Sutherland) with strong evidences against him. However his lawyer uses a technical detail to dismiss the evidence and Robert is released. Karen and her husband Mack (Ed Harris) are advised to go to a support group and she discovers that there are vigilantes entwined in the group. Meanwhile Karen follows Robert that works delivering groceries and she finds that he intends to attack a Latin woman. She tries to warn the police and the probable victim, but she is driven away by them. When Robert finds that Karen is following him, he threatens her telling that he would visit Megan. Karen decides to have self-defense and shooting classes and the vigilante Sidney Hughes (Philip Baker Hall) gives a revolver to her. When the woman she tried to warn is murdered by Robert, Karen plots a scheme to get rid of the killer."Eye for an Eye" is a dramatic thriller with a great story of justice and revenge. It is a shame that lawyers use breaches in the laws to defend scums like the character Robert Doob, but that is the sad reality. The praiseworthy attitude of Karen McCann is an exception but perfectly understood in the situation. The acting is excellent and the plot is timeless. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Olho por Olho" ("Eye for an Eye")

This movie had quite a big premise: a brutally raped and murdered daughter, a despicable criminal, a fallible justice system and a mother who decides to take matters into her own hands. It should not come as a big surprise that after reading its brief description, I was expecting a very emotionally-charged movie dealing with a particularly difficult subject.Now, I understand that the creators of the movie wanted to ensure that transformation of Karen McCann (Sally Field) from grief-stricken mother who relies on the justice system to well, exert justice (ergo keep evildoers behind bars), to a strong female lead who decides to protect others and her daughter's memory by making sure that said evildoer (Kiefer Sutherland) will never harm anyone else. This transformation is the main storyline, and a rather compelling one at that.I was still missing something very important within that dramatic transformation. I wish the script would have allowed the viewers to see behind the McCann family's dynamics after this horrible crime was committed. I wanted to see how the McCanns go through all stages of grief individually and as a family. The cut from Karen being an "ear witness" via the phone to her daughters rape and murder and then sitting at the police station and sobbing was a tad too quick. Next thing I knew, the funeral was over. As a viewer, I would have wanted to feel for Karen, see her go from shell shocked to the 5 stages of grief (Kübler-Ross). I wanted to see her husband, Mack (Ed Harris), play a more crucial role in the entire storyline. His character seemed only to serve the stereotypical male role of "just keep on keepin' on" and "trying to keep the family together". Why couldn't we see Mack McCann's grieving process? That being said, it is true that there is no set way to grieve and everyone deals with loss in their own way. However, what happened to Julie (Olivia Burnette) was so horrid that I was expecting to get a glimpse into a genuine family tragedy and see how such an atrocious act can upset the family dynamics. Another thing that made it difficult to fully indulge in the movie's premise was the character of Robert Doob (Kiefer Sutherland). He was portrayed as the absolute villain: despicable, arrogant, cruel to humans and animals alike, filled with rage and just waiting for the next opportunity to rape and kill another unsuspecting victim. Again, I understand why he was portrayed in such a manner: The movie makers wanted the audience to dislike him from the get-go, feeling the outrage and anger that Karen felt when this predator was set free with not so much as a slap on the wrist. Given the nature of his crimes, it really wouldn't have taken much vilifying to dislike such a character. I personally get more affected by exposed criminals when it comes to light that he was just the "guy next door" or had some element that allowed him to seemingly blend in with society. Well, our evildoer is bad to the bone and the movie does nothing to show him other than The Bad Guy. We do not get a glimpse into his psyche, his background, his real motives, or the full extent of his character.The movie does deliver some fine acting from Sally Field and Kiefer Sutherland, both of whom are unfortunately restricted by the script to portraying somewhat flat characters. It does make a good 100 minutes of entertainment and the movie does a great job at holding the audience's attention. Verdict: 6/10. Exciting premise, great actors, but with a script that chose to follow generic Hollywood formulas instead of showing the audience the real abyss of grief.

You know, as a law school student just about to become a lawyer, I'm much aware of the problems that making justice by yourself can cause to a whole society. That being said, I imagined this movie would try to justify the unjustifiable, but it surprisingly goes in a different direction. The victim's mother becomes obsessive after her daughter gets murdered, but the film never wants to show that she could just murder the bad guy and get easily away with murder. That proves this movie isn't cheesy or formulaic, as I was expecting. The family portrayed in here is very believable and likable, thanks to a great performance made by the three of them-- with highlights to Sally Field, who had an unintentionally funny scene when she swears at the sheriff. Also, directing is professional, doing just like many suspenseful thrillers from the nineties have done. The plot is coherent and well developed, allowing the spectator to understand why the characters were doing what they did, leaving almost no space for doubts. Kiefer Sutherland surely had no hard time on portraying such character, given he did a lot of psychos in the past. All in all, "Eye for an Eye" proves to be a mature film that many of you might enjoy. Recommended.

I thought Kiefer Sutherland did a wonderful job with the movie first off, his acting skills are hard to match by anyone,, how many actors today can bounce back and forth between movies and TV just like that.. Sally Field.. wow what happened to her since Coal Miner's Daughter. she did very good to in the role of the mother trying to get vengeance on her daughter being raped,, in the initial opening scene,, the teenage daughter is on the phone with mom,, and she get's raped and mom hear's the entire rape,start to finish, due to a technicality our rapist is set free, and free to rape and kill again. he starts stalking different prey this time, while our raging mother is trying to find our rapist and bring him to either justice or death.. these kind of movies have been overdone and watered down in the past 30 years. but this one seems to me to have a little more staying power.. I think that will be because of Kiefer's high profile,, 24,, and an amazing performance by Sally Field,, the Coal Miner's Daughter.