When Karen McCann’s eldest daughter is raped and murdered while she is on the phone to her and powerless to help, she takes matters into her own hands when the man responsible for this is let go on a technicality.
If you want anyone to play a mother scorn then Sally Field is the perfect choice for this role, she does well to fully carry the film from start to finish. You want her to succeed and it makes you angry the way the justice system works. Not being able to do anything about the guilty man and when he strikes again after a warning from Karen it just shows he will keep getting away with it over and over again.
Kiefer Sutherland is truly creepy and awful in this film . . . Obviously rightly so for the sadist rapist and killer. He makes your skin crawl each and every time he is on the screen. You really are hoping that Karen can get the evidence that is needed and catch out the horrible horrible man. The rape/killing scene at the beginning of the film is pretty brutal to watch in all honesty and you see a lot more than you would expect to.
It is very interesting that Karen must go to a support group and actually does find herself making friends with people. But is there a little ring of people seeking revenge for the loss they have suffered? It keeps you guessing as she hears and sees some random little things happening.
Her husband wants her to focus on their younger daughter but that is not possible and Karen really does begin to push everyone away as she fights alone to bring the truly awful man down. It does annoy you at times though with the police not watching him or monitoring the situation when everyone knows that he is guilty, but maybe that is how some people manage to get away with different things.
I’m not really sure if I would recommend this film as plenty with similar ideas which are probably better than this one. But if you like Sally Field why not give it a watch as always she puts in a very strong performance. Oh just realised I forgot to mention Ed Harris, as her husband he’s always reliable no matter the role as well.
