Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

No justice system is perfect. And, sometimes, really bad people get to walk around free as a bird, thanks to a "technicality".  That's the focus of the Sally Field "vigilante" movie Eye For An Eye.

Sally Field plays Karen, a woman whose pain can only be imagined.  Stuck in traffic, on her cell phone with her daughter, Karen can only listen, helplessly, as a stranger enters her home, raping and killing her daughter.  This scene is unbelievably difficult to watch, and yet unbelievably compelling.  Scenes of the daughter's brutal attack interspersed with those of a helpless mother trying desperately to get some help to her daughter before it's too late.  But, really, stuck in traffic, miles away, there's only so much anyone can do, and of course, any help that comes is far too late.

Now a family must try to pull together, and move forward.  At least the killer is apprehended fairly quickly.  And the DNA evidence is compelling.  It should be a slam dunk to put Robert Doob (Kiefer Sutherland) away, right?  Except there's a "technicality".  A big one.  One that lets Doob walk away, and leaves Karen an emotional wreck.

The rest of the movie follows Karen as she tries, unsuccessfully, to put the past behind her.  So, despite advice to the contrary, she decides to take matters into her own hands.  And seek her own brand of justice.

Done before?  Yes.  Done since?  Yes.  Done well, in this movie?  For the most part, yes.  Field's portrayal of a (justifiably) angry mother is terrific.  She managed to show the right amount of emotion to make the portrayal seem realistic, without going overboard.  Ed Harris has a much smaller role as her husband.  He isn't given too much to do here, but what he does, he does well.  Joe Montegna does a great job playing the Detective on the case.  You can't help but feel his frustration, as he watches a seemingly tight case go down the drain. And when you find out just how often this happens, and how many guilty people he's had to watch walk free.  You'd have to have one heck of a stomach to deal with this kind of thing, day in and day out.

But special mention has to go to Sutherland who gives us an antagonist who drips with pure evil.  There is no shade of gray here - Doob is all bad, all the time.  Ridiculously bad, in fact.  Cruel to animals, cruel to people, with not one ounce of remorse.  And Sutherland makes it all seem so easy, so natural, it was hard to remember I was watching "Jack Bauer". 

But it's not a perfect movie.  There are a couple areas where I would have tweaked the script just a little bit.  Places where characters made moves that weren't too bright.   One example is a character attempting to remain anonymous.  Well, someone should have told this character that simply donning a baseball cap is not sufficient disguise.  There were a few other things, like this, that just made me think the writers were a bit lazy.

And, there are at least two scenes in this movie that are extremely difficult to watch.  While no actual nudity is shown, what is shown will be more than enough to make some viewers squirm.  Rape and murder are never pretty; this movie makes absolutely sure that is so.

But overall, I enjoyed this movie.  If nothing else, it lets the viewer see both sides of the "justice" equation, and think about how they might react in a similar situation.  Terrific performances combine with a moving premise to present a very watchable movie. 

Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age