25
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonA B movie that somehow won the lottery and got an A-movie cast and director.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumIt’s an exercise in mad-as-hell vigilantism. And to reinforce the absurdity of what fury can be unleashed in a woman when a killer smirks, Sally Field — the Not Without My Daughter star herself — plays the ponytailed mom with the itchy trigger finger.
- 50San Francisco ChroniclePeter StackSan Francisco ChroniclePeter StackWell acted, well crafted and might have been a truly searing drama if it weren't so simplistic, pat and predictable.
- Call it Death Wish Goes Suburban.
- 38ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliEye for an Eye is one of three pictures currently in theaters about parents coping with the deaths of children. Both of the others, The Crossing Guard and Dead Man Walking, are vastly superior, and the latter, a thoughtful examination of some of the same issues that drive this film, makes Eye for an Eye look like puerile rubbish. Despite paying lip service to high ideals, Schlesinger's movie has no moral compass, and is only interested in delivering cheap thrills. And, while there's a place for that in movies, appropriating this particular storyline for such a base intention feels uncomfortably like a defilement.
- 30Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyEssentially "Death Wish" in pantyhose. Like that earlier inflammatory fable, this blatant button-pusher plays upon our most primal emotions as well as the increasing disdain for the criminal justice system. It's a crude but effective promotion for frontier-style vigilantism.
- 25Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMovies like Eye for an Eye cheapen our character by encouraging us to indulge simplistic emotions - to react instead of analyzing. It provides a one-in-a-million situation and tries to teach us a lesson from it; thoughtful audience members will be aware they're not being treated fairly. This is filmmaking at the level of three-card monte. If you don't believe me, see "Dead Man Walking."
- 20Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonThis suspense drama, which stars Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland and Joe Mantegna, tries desperately to press your vigilante buttons. But its manipulative agenda is so transparent, you don't know whether to take exception or laugh it off.
- 0Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversIt’s early in the new year, but I doubt that 1996 will produce a film more unthinkingly insidious than Eye for an Eye.
- 0Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum[A] really awful, hysterical thriller...If you thought Schlesinger’s Pacific Heights was egregious, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.