There was really no science to how I picked the film for today other than the fact that Encore was playing it and it featured Sally Field (Forrest Gump) and Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys). The name of the film that I chose for today is the crime drama Eye For An Eye. For Karen McCann (Field) everything in life is as normal as can be with a loving and devoted husband (Ed Harris) and some great kids. Her life is torn upside down when repeat felon Robert Doob (Sutherland) rapes and murders her daughter Julie (Olivia Burnette) and he gets away with scot-free by a technicality. To cope with the pain and the fact that he is a free man, she will will resort to taking self defense lessons and gun training to get some vengeance, but can she go through with it. The film also stars Alexandra Kyle (A Time To Kill) as Megan McCann, Joe Mantegna (Baby’s Day Out) as Det. Sgt. Denillo, Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Vacation) as Dolly Green, Charlayne Woodard (The Crucible) as Angel Kosinsky, Philip Baker Hall (Bruce Almighty) as Sidney Hughes, Keith David (Men At Work) as Martin, Wanda Acuna (Encino Man) as Hispanic Housewife, and the film was directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy).
The MVP of the film, without a shadow of a doubt, was the performance from Kiefer Sutherland who made a career of playing different types of roles. He was so amazing in this film that he had me really believe that he was some twisted whack job that gets off on raping and killing his victims. The only thing that kind of bothered me is that his character seemed real out of place like he belonged more in the south then where ever the heck they were from. Sally Field also does a tremendous job of playing the mother with so much guilt that it plagues her very existence. The film has some very weird moments in it that are just creepy like Kiefer’s character talking to the youngest daughter at her school or when he spies on his victims. I can’t believe that the film is already twenty years old as it came out in January of 1996. The film I believe was advertised as a vigilante film, but it’s really not that. It’s more of a thriller where you left wondering if he’ll catch her, etc. I think that is why the film had such negative reviews back in the day and why it holds an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the film a lot just because of the two performances and such as I described above. I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.
Today’s film has been sitting on my Netflix cue for quite some time that I am even surprised that it was still around for me to view. Nevertheless, it was a film that featured Ben Affleck a year after his appearance in Dazed And Confused and I figured why not let’s check out Glory Daze. The film follows five college friends/roommates in Jack (Affleck), Rob (Sam Rockwell), Dennis (French Stewart), Slosh (Vien Hong), and Mickey (Vinnie DeRamus) as they face various dilemmas two days before graduation. Jack doesn’t have a girlfriend, but he’s more scared about the unknown part of his future while Rob is about to move to LA, but is afraid of meeting his girlfriend’s mom. Dennis feels that he should transfer to Michigan for a masters, but an offer from a teacher has him thinking twice while Slosh is just a drunk going nowhere fast. Mickey wants a girlfriend, but he’s just too afraid and dumb to realize when opportunity presents itself. The whole group decides to stay, but is it the right decision after all? The film also stars Megan Ward (Encino Man) as Joanie, 
What did I think of this film? Well one thing is for sure and that it isn’t Dazed And Confused and I have a reason for saying that. The film is basically what if O’Bannion grew up and went to college in the 90’s and was an art student. It had that same kind of vibe where the main character is faced with a major life decision and all of a sudden he starts to question the norm. The other thing that made me think of it was seeing Matthew McConaughey in the film. His character made me think that what i that was Wooderson and he had just left Texas and became a UHaul salesman. While it may be one of your typical 20 somethings slacker film, it doesn’t capture the same kind of brilliance other films had before it. It’s surprising considering the caliber of talent that was in this film like Sam Rockwell, Affleck, Fraser, etc. The film isn’t all bad though, it actually nails the 90’s in a way where everyone was overly pissed off at the world and how life wasn’t fair. Thanks to grunge music, Punk made a huge comeback in the 90’s and this soundtrack is full of iconic 90’s punk bands like NOFX, The Bouncing Souls, etc. The film has it’s moments of brilliance, but it’s just too all over the place at times. Like I said, he film is currently available on Netflix as we speak so check it out if you dare. I’m having a hard time giving the film a grade so I say it’s somewhere between a C+/B- as far as a final grade is concerned.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 