''Eye for an Eye'' is a 1996 American

psychological thriller film Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and ...

, directed by

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

and written by

Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver Rick Jaffa (born May 8, 1956) and Amanda Silver (born May 24, 1963) are an American married screenwriting and film production duo.

. It stars

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...

Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a British-Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series '' 24'' (2001–2010, 2014), for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Glo ...

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award n ...

Beverly D'Angelo Beverly Heather D'Angelo (born November 15, 1951) is an American actress who starred as Ellen Griswold in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' films (1983–2015). She has appeared in over 60 films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for h ...

and

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeffe ...

. The story was adapted from

Erika Holzer Erika Holzer was an American novelist and essayist who was a close associate of Ayn Rand. Her novel ''Eye for an Eye'' was the basis for a major motion picture of the same name. She also co-authored two nonfiction books with her husband, prof ...

's novel of the same name. The film opened on January 12, 1996.

Plot

Karen (

) and Mack McCann (

) are happily married with two daughters, seventeen-year-old Julie (from Karen's previous marriage) and six-year-old Megan. One afternoon while Karen is out shopping, Julie is violently raped and murdered, which Karen overhears on the phone. Detective Joe Denillo assures the McCanns there is enough DNA evidence to find and convict the killer, and encourages Karen to seek counselling. At a

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

, Karen meets people in similar circumstances, including Albert and Regina Gratz, and Sidney Hughes. During the meeting, Karen overhears Albert talking to Sidney about something which alarms Regina. Meanwhile, the DNA tests reveal Julie's killer to be Robert Doob (

), a delivery driver with a criminal record. However at the trial, Doob is released as the defence did not receive a sample of the evidence, and the judge dismisses the case. Karen and Mack are horrified as Doob walks free. Mack is desperate to return to a normal life, but Karen cannot stop thinking about Doob. She finds out where he lives and keeps detailed records of his movements. Karen follows Doob while he goes out on deliveries and attempts to warn a female customer, but the woman only speaks Spanish and does not understand her. Karen later learns that the murderer of the Gratzs' son has been killed in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

, just days after being released from prison. Angel, also in the self-help group, tells Karen the best way to get over her grief is to focus on having good experiences with her living daughter, making Karen realize she has been so fixated on Doob that Megan has been deprived of her attention. Doob discovers Karen is stalking him and goes to Megan's school. When Karen comes to pick Megan up, Doob deliberately intimidates her and threatens to harm Megan if she continues following him. Worried for Megan's safety and with her sanity declining, Karen approaches Sidney, who admits the drive-by shooting was set up by him and Martin. Karen demands their help and they agree to find a weapon, train her, and plan the murder, but tell her she has to carry it out. Karen agrees and they begin plotting. She also joins a

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

class, which helps her gain more confidence, helps rekindle her sex life with Mack, and improves her relationship with Megan. Sidney gives Karen a gun. Angel reveals that she is really an undercover

FBI Agent The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

investigating

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

activity within the support group, and warns Karen not to kill Doob. Karen then calls Sidney to tell him she cannot go through with it, but later changes her mind when she learns the Spanish customer she tried to warn about Doob has been raped and murdered. Karen is furious when Doob again walks free because, as the grocery delivery man, his prints and hair/carpet fibers belong in the house. He even wore a condom to prevent leaving DNA, something he didn’t do with Julie. Karen sets a trap to lure Doob into her home while Mack and Megan are out of town, so that she can say killing him was self-defense, and it works. Despite Doob's attempts to fight back, Karen ultimately shoots Doob dead after a struggle. Denillo arrives on the scene and tells Karen that he knows the truth and that she has not fooled him, to which she replies, "Prove it." He decides to tell his colleague that it was a "clear case of self-defense". When Mack arrives, he sits beside her, holding her hand, also knowing what she has done.

Cast

as Karen Julie McCann *

as Robert Doob *

as Mack McCann *

as Det. Joe Denillo *

as Dolly Green *

Olivia Burnette Olivia Burnette (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress who began her career as a child actress at the age of six. She is perhaps best known for her role in the NBC sitcom ''The Torkelsons'' (1991–1993), Homeless Woman in ''Sons of Anarc ...

as Julie McCann * Alexandra Kyle as Megan McCann *

Darrell Larson Darrell Ray Larson (born December 13, 1950) is an American film and television actor who appeared in the 1990 action/comedy film ''Men at Work''. Larson's work includes roles in ''The Student Nurses'' (1970), ''Kotch'' (1971), '' The Magnifice ...

as Peter Green *

Charlayne Woodard Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard (born December 29, 1953) is an American playwright and actress. She is a two-time Obie Award winner as well as a Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee. She was a series regular on the hit FX TV series Pose. She played ...

as Angel Kosinsky * Philip Baker Hall as Sidney Hughes *

William Mesnik William Mesnik (born May 21, 1953, age 68) is an American character actor, musician and playwright who appeared in numerous films and television series of the 1990s and 2000s. He started his career as a singer-songwriter in the mid-1970s, playing ...

as Albert Gratz *

Rondi Reed Rondi Anne Reed (born October 26, 1952) is an American actress of stage and screen. A longtime member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she has appeared in more than 50 productions at that theater. Also active on Broadway, she won the 20 ...

as Regina Gratz *

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

as Martin *

Donal Logue Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the film '' The Tao of Steve'' and has had roles in the TV series ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Vikings'', ''Grounded for Life'', ''Copper'', '' Terriers'', and, as Detecti ...

as Tony *

Grand L. Bush Grand Lee Bush (born December 24, 1955) is an American actor of stage, television and major motion pictures. Early life and education Bush was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actor Robert Bush and his wife Essie Bush. Shakespearean- ...

as Tyrone *

Armin Shimerman Armin Shimerman (born November 5, 1949) is an American actor and author. Early life Shimerman was born into a Jewish family in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, Lakewood, New Jersey, on November 5, 1949, the son of accountant Susan and house painte ...

as Judge Arthur Younger * Nicholas Cascone as District Attorney Howard Bolinger *

Ross Bagley Ross Bagley is an American former actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Nicky Banks in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' as well as Dylan Dubrow in ''Independence Day''. He also played Buckwheat in ''The Little Rascals''. Career ...

as Sean Kosinsky *

Cynthia Rothrock Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cyndy, ...

as Tina * Stella Garcia as Maria

Critical reception

''Eye for an Eye'' received negative reviews from critics, as it holds an 8% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 38 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Overwrought, thinly written, and all-around unpleasant, ''Eye for an Eye'' crudely exploits every parent's nightmare with deeply offensive results." Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film one star (out of four), calling it "a particularly nasty little example of audience manipulation" and writing that it "is intellectually corrupt because it deliberately avoids dealing with the issues it raises." Ebert also compared the film to '' Dead Man Walking'', saying "''Dead Man Walking'' challenges us to deal with a wide range of ethical and moral issues. ''Eye for an Eye'' cynically blinkers us, excluding morality as much as it can, to service an exploitation plot."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote "Never in his varied career has Mr. Schlesinger made a film as mean-spirited and empty as this." She also felt "The sole purpose of "Eye for an Eye" is to excite blood lust from the audience".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eye For An Eye (1996 Film) 1996 films 1990s crime drama films 1996 crime thriller films 1990s psychological thriller films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American psychological thriller films Films about miscarriage of justice American films about revenge Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Films directed by John Schlesinger Films scored by James Newton Howard Films set in Santa Monica, California Paramount Pictures films American rape and revenge films Films with screenplays by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver American vigilante films 1990s vigilante films 1996 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films

Plot

Cast

Critical reception

See also

References

External links