Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), a hotshot young Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Over his objections, Nick is forced by his boss to offer one of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. Fast forward ten years. The man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde Shelton admits his guilt. Then he issues a warning to Nick: Either fix the flawed justice system, or key players in the trial will die. Soon Shelton follows through on his threats, orchestrating from his jail cell a string of spectacularly diabolical assassinations that can be neither predicted nor prevented. Only Nick can stop the killing and finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary who seems always to be one step ahead.The legal thriller meets the serial-killer shocker in Law Abiding Citizen. The story begins when home invaders kill Clyde Shelton’s wife and daughter. The bereaved father (played by a thoroughly unsympathetic Gerard Butler) looks to slick Philly prosecutor Nick Rice (a low-key Jamie Foxx) to see that they receive the maximum sentence. Instead, the murderer, Ames, testifies against his accomplice, Darby, who gets the chair, while he gets 10 years. Upon his release, Ames’ mutilated body turns up in an abandoned warehouse, and all roads lead to Shelton. Rice attempts to defend him, but his client makes it impossible–Shelton wants to go to prison–so he does time, but then members of Rice’s legal team start to die. The attorney suspects Shelton, but can’t connect him to the crimes, so he races against the clock to save the lives of his assistant, Sarah (Leslie Bibb), D.A. Jonas (Bruce McGill), and his own wife and child. The movie may sound like a Yank reboot of the Japanese chiller Cure, in which an inmate kills from inside institutional walls, but plays more like a mash-up between The Silence of the Lambs, without the psychological complexity, and The Devil’s Advocate, without the cynical giggles. F. Gary Gray got his start with hip-hop videos and urban action flicks, like Set It Off, until he hit the big time with his remake of The Italian Job. Law Abiding Citizen is a disappointing muddle from a director who’s done better in the past and will surely do better in the future. –Kathleen C. Fennessy
Stills from Law Abiding Citizen (Click for larger image)
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January 1, 2006
#1
Remember Death Wish? Charles Bronson as vigilante, killing baddies on a revenge trip after some guys killed his family? Did you like that? You will get an encore here. Did you think it was reactionary garbage? Just wait till you see this one!
Charles Bronson is now called Gerald Butler. Starting position the same. Who would begrudge the man the revenge against the sadist rapist and killer and his side kick? Entirely legitimate emotions, especially after the prosecution makes a deal with the more evil guy and lets him get off with 5 years, plus death for the more harmless guy. Doesn’t this legal system stink? Ja, well. Who would deny that. And this is where the film derails.
10 years after the murder of his wife and child, Charles Gerald Bronson Butler resurfaces and goes several levels higher in his revenge needs than good old Bronson in the 70s ever dared to think.
Killing is not enough, we need extreme sadism and we need superman phantasies of the worst kind. Butler’s character develops traits of super evil cartoon baddies. The movie moves into terror propaganda feelings. We know that the man is evil, but we are made to sympathize with him. The defenders of the system are weaklings that we can’t like. After all it is their fault that the world is not a better place.
I would not hesitate to call this film propaganda for terrorism!
P.S. there is a new and altogether more charming addition to the genre in the new English film ‘Harry Brown’ with Michael Caine as a new version of the Charles Bronson character (in a combination with Clint Eastwood’s pensioner in Gran Torino). The film could carry the subtitle “The Pensioner Vigilante’. Harry is also not remotely a comedian, but he stays rather human compared with Butler’s monster. Oh, and if you in the US thought you have some social problems with some of your settlements and gangs, I recommend to watch Harry Brown to make you happy you don’t live in England.
January 1, 2006
#2
I really liked the movie and was looking forward to purchasing the Special Edition/Unrated DVD just to find out that the only unrated version is on BLU RAY!!?? Are you Kidding?!! I am a film maker and I PAY for special edition DVD’s to support those involved in making the movies. If the format I use (because I am tired of being bullied into the newest technology & dvd’s last until I die) is no longer selling UNRATED/SPECIAL EDITIONS, then I might as well DL them for Free or find a friend who has it and rip his! Yes, This is the ONLY negative review I have ever given and am very upset. It is the studio’s loss then! If anyone finds an UNRATED/Special Edition DVD, then please let me know as I will most likely be in the market for one. I’m off to search torrents!
Laters
January 1, 2006
#3
Short Attention Span Summary (WARNING! PLOT SPOILERS):
1. The movie opens with a Nice Father enjoying his wife and child. There is a knock at the door, and The Father is knocked down and subdued by Two Bad Men. His wife is raped in front of him and his daughter is killed.
2. Jaime Foxx is the lawyer that makes a deal with the men who killed The Father’s family. Apparently, there are some Unspecified Technical Reasons that DNA evidence can’t be used against the two killers, and one of them gets a slap on the wrist and the other gets a death sentence.
3. 10 years later, the person who was to be executed is executed– but for some reason the execution is very painful. (We later find out that someone has tampered with the execution medicines.)
4. The man who got off with a lighter sentence is then set up to flee his house when police are coming to arrest him for some reason. He has a guardian angel that tells him where to go– but it turns out to be a setup.
5. Re-enter The Father, except that now he is The Assassin. So, he drugs the man (paralyzes) and takes him to a warehouse where he saws him into about 24 pieces, and castrates him afterward (making for 25 pieces, total).
6. The Assassin deliberately get himself arrested. From prison, he manages to kill quite a few people, including: The judge who gave the lenient sentences to one of the Bad Men, The DA who negotiated the deal. (It is at this point that we find out that he is a Highly Trained Assassin.) Eventually, the city is locked down.
7. The ultimate plan was to blow up city hall, but the Assistant DA finds out and moves the bomb back into his cell. The bomb blows up and kills the Highly Trained Assassin.
All in all:
This was an excellent film. To me, it would be worth seeing at a film (non-matinee price) or even buying off the New Release shelf. There was an excellent plot here, and that plot was enough to keep you interested but not slip into unbelievability. There was also lots of action, but that supplemented the plot (as opposed to films that are full of action in order to try to mask a weak plot). The film raised “thought questions” about the Justice System that also make for good discussion later on. There was also some very good, subtle casting. When the main character was The Father, he was believable in that role. But with a change of makeup and clothes, he also worked very well in the role of Highly Trained Assassin.
January 1, 2006
#4
THIS MOVIE IS FANATASTIC I GOT IT THE DAY IT CAME OUT AT BEST BUY I JUST LOVE THIS MOVIE ITS HAS WHAT U WANT IN A THRILLER MOVIE BEST PART IS ITS LOOK AMAZING ON BLU RAY AND THE SOUND IS OUT OF THIS WORLD ,GO OUT AND PICK IT UP U WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED U WILL BE WOWED .A MUST OWN ON BLU RAY.
January 1, 2006
#5
This movie until the last 5 mins was really great, could have been one of the best movies of 2009 – but then the horrendous ending came along and totally killed the WHOLE movie. This movie falls flatter than a pancake at Wafflehouse. I mean the first 90ish minutes is a 5 star movie, ending drops it to 1.
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Why would I want to see a movie where the morally bankrupt lawyer wins!? In a situation where the protagonists’ wife and 10-year old daughter are raped and murdered, the entire system deserves to be brought down. If I go to a movie where the system screws over the little guy and that little guy comes back to dish out real justice, I absolutely, positively DO NOT want to see the “system” win in the end, regardless of any Hollywood-ed glossed over change of heart the corrupt lawyer might happen to have. Just goes to show that even in making the movie about Selling out – the Director sells the audience out as well.
****SPOILERS****