Law Abiding Citizen

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Law Abiding Citizen

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Law Abiding Citizen

Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb

An everyday guy decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets his family's killers free. His target: The district attorney who orchestrated the deal.

Id: 11049527

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Law Abiding Citizen Recent Reviews
  • mrpopcorn
    December 30, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "The System Must Pay"

    A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

    ...( read more)y Schoolbook">REVIEW
    Gerard Butler's Clyde Shelton sees his wife and daughter savagely murdered by a pair of burglars. Jamie Foxx's Nick Rice is the DA who plea bargains a short sentence for the worst of the pair to turn State's evidence against the other. It turns out that Shelton is a former covert specialist in planning and executing sudden and secret death for the Government, as Rice finds out when the two murderers met highly unpleasant demises, following which Shelton turns his attention to the flawed system which failed to hold them properly to account.

    This is essentially a revenge movie, albeit dressed up with fun but unlikely trappings, none of which bears examination in the cold light of day. It's full of action, holds your attention, and even engages you from time to time with issues which require some thought. Having said that, there is some very muddled morality in it - given Shelton's actions, and notwithstanding the murders which catalyse him, is he fundamentally any more moral than the murderers? But if you remove your thinking apparatus and simply get aboard for the ride, there is much to be enjoyed here.
  • AgentLexi2132
    December 26, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''I'm gonna pull the whole thing down. I'm gonna bring the whole fuckin' diseased, corrupt temple down on your head. It's gonna be biblical.''

    A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He target...( read more)s not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

    Jamie Foxx: Nick Rice

    Gerard Butler: Clyde Shelton

    Law Abiding Citizen could have been this years Inside Man in terms of thrillers and puzzling treats in cinema. It could of capitalized on making a clear point which aims carefully placed stabs and results at the Justice system. What we do get from this Law Abiding Citizen, is something which is a mixed bag of predictable tricks. One moment it's doing antics similar to Saw then Silence of the Lambs before finishing with a confusing, predictable twist which undermines everything we have just seen. What was the point? The answer is open to interpretation. Clearly whatever the message or point it's diluted somewhere.


    However, still the fact that until one point (leaving aside some Hollywood scenes and the acting of robotic Foxx; which was inexplicably poor compared to the recent The Soloist) you could agree that it was somewhat of a breakthrough idea, deserves some credits.
    First of all, I would like to say that i expected to see more of the main events that formed the character of Clyde Shelton(Gerard Butler): the slaughter of his family and his revenge on the killer. Maybe I ask too much from a Hollywood movie in general but if you were exposed to images more shocking than the ones you actually see in the movie, you would be able to understand the feelings that the protagonist experiences; receiving no help from the corrupt Justice system.

    Interesting facts about Law Abiding Citizen: At one point Frank Darabont was attached to direct. If only he did.
    Catherine Zeta-Jones was attached to the project in early development but dropped out due to changes with the scripting.
    Darby's ring tone in the film ironically is Bloodline by Slayer.
    Michael Nutter also cameos in the scene where the Mayor (Viola Davis) is swearing in Nick as the new District Attorney, the man holding the bible is the actual mayor of Philadelphia at the time of filming.
    Director Cameo from F. Gary Gray; The detective who hands Garza the evidence bag after the execution scene.
    Director F. Gary Gray also decided to use Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse as the restaurant that caters Clyde's lunch after dining there several times during filming. The restaurant was also the location of the film's after-party following its screening at the Philadelphia Film Festival.

    The second and biggest problems in Law Abiding Citizen were the holes in the scenario which appeared incrementally; leading up to a disappointing (and rather unrealistic) ending. I'm not going to get too much into details concerning the acts of Clyde during his plan but I would like to comment on the fact that although the writers had in mind the whole time that Clyde was fighting not only for his family but very much more against the surprisingly justice-free judicial system; they inevitably abandoned this main idea and turned their focus too much into the characters and how Clyde could influence Nick (Jamie Foxx). I was really intrigued when the writers were making remarks about how the effort to make the judicial system perfect and caring for all had turned it into a seemingly unfair and naive system; but I was finally let down by the conclusion which didn't try to tackle the notion of a dead end in our dysfunctional society to viewers in an understandable way.

    Just to mention my idea of an ending I would like to experience the well expected catharsis which would come through the death of the Mayor and the upcoming upheaval of the society; followed by a judicial system punishing the murderer, serving the rights and the safety of the majority once again. As they used to say in Rome ''Give the people what they want!'', unfortunately Law Abiding Citizen didn't. It fizzled out like a wet drizzly fart.
  • KhrisP
    December 26, 2009
    KhrisP
    Once in a while a really good thriller comes along, which isn't really something special... but it certainly meets my preferences and taste for high adrenalin thriller in the tradition of 7, The Negotiator and Four Brothers.

    I like F Gary Gray films and this is an absolute thril...( read more)l ride, despite what others may think, I just really enjoyed the movie. It starts off violently and tragically - as a lawyer I'm also interested in the concepts thrown into the movie, which are correct in some ways. Though fictional, it does provide an honest insight into the legal justice system, specifically how it fails others. Not everyone can have justice.

    It was a simple movie, the thrill factor is very strong the first time around. It is a no frills, cold hearted flick which is designed to show pain, anger, fear terror and grief, which is portrayed and embodied by Butler really well. But in comparison to others, there was something lacking - it just wasn't as good as the others in my view. But it didn't fail... it just didnt reach the epic height I've put movies like The Negotiator or The Italian Job on. I think because the ending was very flat.... it didn't reach that supreme crescendo when the two rivals meet and have the shootout. It would have been great if Foxx finally snapped and did a Brad Pitt in "Seven." But thats done and dusted.

    But still... definitely worth watching. People have been caning it for stupidity and a braineless plot or perhaps useless acting - I might only agree on the acting. The rest of the movie was okay for shock value and does keep people interested till the flat ending - it just ran out of gas.


    Enjoy - if you can.
  • briandeguelle
    December 8, 2009
    briandeguelle
    To start off it loses a star for the ending,wont tell if u havn't seen it yet but it just never cut it for me.On a whole its a good movie,a death wish updated.Butler is on great form here and the best performance hes done this year with all the other movies hes put out,Fox is fin...( read more)e but can do better.Twist is fine but can see it coming,On a whole a voilent,bloody at times and enteraining way to spent 2 hrs,
  • Showrogan
    December 4, 2009
    Showrogan
    Review pending...
  • zaenal
    December 30, 2009
    zaenal
    agak meragukan knp butler bisa melakukan semua hal yang ga disangka dibalik jeruji. even semua dijelaskan pada akhir cerita, tp tetap aja kurang kuat menurut saya.
    yang bikin law abiding citizenlayak tonton adalah segi cerita yang ga kacangan, dibesut oleh f gary gray yang bikin ...( read more)the italian job jadi sleeper hit taun 2003[sekuel the brazilian job yang ga jelas kapan tayang] serta dukungan aktor peraih oscar jamie foxx.
    setidaknya, butler yang cukup sibuk taun ini [setelah the ugly truth dan gamer yang gatot di pasaran], butler cukup baik bermain di genre yang berbeda, salah satunya law abiding citizen.
    hal yang masih blm di lakukan oleh jason statham sebagai aktor laga yang sibuk taun 2008 namun semua filmnya berjenis action[transporter3, death race, the bank job]
  • acmroyd
    December 30, 2009
    acmroyd
    It kept me and Annie on the edge of our seats. Action thriller, with a surprise ending. Worth seeing again!
  • MystiOne
    December 29, 2009
    MystiOne
    Must see !!!!!! Very good
  • Orchidaceae
    December 29, 2009
    Orchidaceae
    I did not like the end
    even though he was fabulous in the beginning
  • livingmylife4God1
    December 29, 2009
    livingmylife4God1
    this was an amazing movie, definitely one of gerards best work
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