Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• John M

  
  An excellent thriller that takes you to the edge of your seat. Excellent acting across the board makes this movie much better than the average revenge flick. Butler's bow as the "bad guy" truly makes the film as you tend to understand his want for revenge and makes him… More
  An excellent thriller that takes you to the edge of your seat. Excellent acting across the board makes this movie much better than the average revenge flick. Butler's bow as the "bad guy" truly makes the film as you tend to understand his want for revenge and makes him someone you can connect with. Overall a good action thriller.

• Sam B

  
  Despite devoted performances and a decent job building suspense, Law Abiding Citizen manages to come up with one of the most ridiculous twist endings I've ever seen - so dumb in fact that it almost seems like a joke. The movie is entertaining on a basic level, but just expect to… More
  Despite devoted performances and a decent job building suspense, Law Abiding Citizen manages to come up with one of the most ridiculous twist endings I've ever seen - so dumb in fact that it almost seems like a joke. The movie is entertaining on a basic level, but just expect to be incredulously let down by the final scenes.

• Melvin W

  
  Clyde Shelton: Well, justice should be harsh Nick... especially for those who denied it to others.  "How do you stop a killer who is already behind bars?" Law Abiding Citizen is an unrealistic film with plot holes aplenty. It's also an extremely fun and entertaining… More
  Clyde Shelton: Well, justice should be harsh Nick... especially for those who denied it to others.  "How do you stop a killer who is already behind bars?" Law Abiding Citizen is an unrealistic film with plot holes aplenty. It's also an extremely fun and entertaining one. The fun outweighs the negative aspects of the movie and makes for a really enjoyable thriller. The movie doesn't waste any time jumping into the brutal nature and violence that will fill the one hour and forty five minute running time. It's a nonstop action and violence extravaganza, with more than a few twisted killings. The premise is cool, even if it leads us down a predictable path. The film opens on Clyde with his family. He hears a knock on his door and when he answers it, two robbers beat him down and enter the house. They kill his family and leave him for dead. He doesn't die though. One of the killers makes a deal with the prosecutor, that allows the other suspect to be killed, but he will get out after three years. This doesn't make Clyde very happy. The plot jumps ahead ten years after these events and that's when the movie really starts. Law Abiding Citizen isn't as good as I had initially thought after my first viewing a few years ago. With a second watch, I still really enjoy, but I found a lot of things about it bothersome that I must have missed in all of the excitement the first time around. Good thing I don't watch movies like Law Abiding Citizen for their realism. As all the critics will point out, it isn't realistic. No shit.  Overall, it is a fun, action filled ride with solid performances from both Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, who play off each other extremely well. It manages to be thrilling, but not suspenseful, as everyone and their mother knows how movies like this will eventually turn out.

• Brad W

  
  Law Abiding Citizen was a movie of revenge, and corruptness. Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx are really good in this, but nothing award winning. The plot is boring, until the end where the story actually gets somewhere. It does have a few cheap thrills but it also has some cool WTF… More
  Law Abiding Citizen was a movie of revenge, and corruptness. Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx are really good in this, but nothing award winning. The plot is boring, until the end where the story actually gets somewhere. It does have a few cheap thrills but it also has some cool WTF moments. It had a pretty good message about the justice systems corruption. Overall I dissagree with the reviews and I agree with Roger Ebert, this was a pretty good movie.

• Eric A

  
  WOW! One of the most underrated movies I know, that includes inside and outside of Rotten Tomatoes. First of all, it didn't do well in theatres (probably due to poor marketing), and second, a 25% on here!?!? No justice at all! Please....if you're reading this and… More
  WOW! One of the most underrated movies I know, that includes inside and outside of Rotten Tomatoes. First of all, it didn't do well in theatres (probably due to poor marketing), and second, a 25% on here!?!? No justice at all! Please....if you're reading this and haven't seen it, go watch it. Im annoyed.

• Kase V

  
  It's an entertaining movie, but it doesn't break any ground in terms of great cinema. Subpar performances and an unrealistic story are only some of it's flaws, but it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

• Cassandra M

  
  I thought this film was fantastic. From start to finish you are in suspense. I read some comments on here and seen some people saying the ending was a let down, but in my opinion it was a great ending. It was the whole point of the story...the whole time Gerard Butler is trying to… More
  I thought this film was fantastic. From start to finish you are in suspense. I read some comments on here and seen some people saying the ending was a let down, but in my opinion it was a great ending. It was the whole point of the story...the whole time Gerard Butler is trying to make a point that the system is corrupt and you shouldn't make deals with murderers, etc. At the end it finally sinks into Jamie Foxx. It proves a point and Gerard Butler then doesn't mind dying because his lesson has finally been taught, and Jamie Foxx then learns to appreciate his family more. Suspenseful, upsetting, amazing, unpredictable, a must watch!

• Michael G

  
  Law Abiding Citizen had so many things going against it--Jamie Foxx's presence, Gerard Butler's refusal to commit to an accent (any accent at all...!) and its (possibly not completely unfounded) presumption that its target audience is completely retarded. There are many… More
  Law Abiding Citizen had so many things going against it--Jamie Foxx's presence, Gerard Butler's refusal to commit to an accent (any accent at all...!) and its (possibly not completely unfounded) presumption that its target audience is completely retarded. There are many movies that are simply just... there and the final 10-20 minutes determine if the last two hours were a complete and total waste of time or not and if it was actually maybe even a good movie. Ridiculous dialect or not, I was pulling for Butler's character. And despite all of the executions, each one more preposterous than the one before it, I was just... "fine, whatever." But the dickbag explanation given as to how this level of bullshit was able to be achieved was too much even for me. I love the occasional piece of shit movie myself and I knew I wasn't going to get a latter-day Bridge on the River Kwai here but seriously?

• Shauna R

  
  This is quite literally a dreadful film. Every once in a while there comes a revenge flick that captures audiences imaginations, a few examples I can think of is Man on Fire or The Punisher but this film fails on almost every level. It begins fairly well but then it catapults into… More
  This is quite literally a dreadful film. Every once in a while there comes a revenge flick that captures audiences imaginations, a few examples I can think of is Man on Fire or The Punisher but this film fails on almost every level. It begins fairly well but then it catapults into barbarism. Somehow I could not believe Gerard Butler as an avenging evil genius, he was extremely miscast, he had supposedly lost his entire family and Mr. Butler didn't conjure any empathy for me to feel. In terms of unbelievability, there's only so much you can take when the script is so poorly written, by the end there was nothing left for me to do but roll my eyes. All in all, the film is imbalanced by so much violence and silly action that it is lacking in substance and narrative.

• Lady D

  
  This film has all the right ingredients to be a great film and it starts off really well, I disliked the ending though and felt it didn't match the cleverness of the rest of the film. The film is still better than a lot of reviews I received for it though.

• Cynthia S

  
  First of all, I probably would have given this 4 1/2 stars, but I just am not crazy about Jamie Foxx. Stupid reason, I know, cuz he did an ok job, but I just kept picturing someone better for his part. All in all, though, it was a very exciting and interesting movie to watch. Gerard… More
  First of all, I probably would have given this 4 1/2 stars, but I just am not crazy about Jamie Foxx. Stupid reason, I know, cuz he did an ok job, but I just kept picturing someone better for his part. All in all, though, it was a very exciting and interesting movie to watch. Gerard Butler rocked!

• MisterYoda ?

  
  5 stars

• Thomas J

  
  WOW!! Much better than I imagined. Very poor promotion for this movie unless the goal was expect little so the surprise is more significant. Jamie Foxx' and his character are pretty much one dimensional, but Gerard Butler was like 300 "the star"! I like the wake up… More
  WOW!! Much better than I imagined. Very poor promotion for this movie unless the goal was expect little so the surprise is more significant. Jamie Foxx' and his character are pretty much one dimensional, but Gerard Butler was like 300 "the star"! I like the wake up to the consequences of your action movies.... I want to be like Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) to Cigna Insurance Company. ;-)

• KJ P

  
  Law Abiding Citizen is very entertaining, and keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting for something big to happen. Although it is beautifully concluded, it was a little predictable of how it was going to play out. It was not the greatest film, but it was a good solid popcorn… More
  Law Abiding Citizen is very entertaining, and keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting for something big to happen. Although it is beautifully concluded, it was a little predictable of how it was going to play out. It was not the greatest film, but it was a good solid popcorn suspenseful movie!

• Dean !

  
  A well made and enjoyable to watch revenge action/thriller. The biggest let down really was how far fetched the plot was!! It starts well and has some quite violent scenes for this type of film. It's hard to say who you should be rooting for. At the start you can understand why a… More
  A well made and enjoyable to watch revenge action/thriller. The biggest let down really was how far fetched the plot was!! It starts well and has some quite violent scenes for this type of film. It's hard to say who you should be rooting for. At the start you can understand why a man in that position would want his wife and child murderers to suffer......but as he starts to seek revenge on anyone associated with the case, he himself becomes the bad guy. So despite the unbelievable plot it's still an entertaining film.

• Richard C

  
  i realy liked this movie a lot. B+

• Alexis N

  
  i liked it.. i took away a star and 1/2 for the ending though. it goes way beyond any vigilante movie i've ever seen. so brutal. gerard butler is such a babe and i was happy to see josh stewart in something since dirt.

• Red L

  
  An unbelievable story - some guy sets out to avenge his wife and daughter's killers. He succeeds in dispatching the killers, but then he takes it upon himself to teach the whole justice system a thing or two about justice. He takes the eye for an eye argument to the extreme,… More
  An unbelievable story - some guy sets out to avenge his wife and daughter's killers. He succeeds in dispatching the killers, but then he takes it upon himself to teach the whole justice system a thing or two about justice. He takes the eye for an eye argument to the extreme, landing up killing 15 additional people involved in his family's justice.

• Curtis L

  
  I'm afraid I've gotten to a point where I'll watch anything with Gerad Butler in it. Don't know why. Anyways, this one was basically a mix of Seven with Man on Fire or something along those lines. Pretty great stuff. Hard to know who to root for.

• Dean M

  
  Revenge thrillers never appeal to our better natures. They pander to our lust for retribution, and get away with murder by appearing to offset wrong with right. <i>Death Wish</i> vigilantism goes too far when you no longer grasp who you are supposed to be rooting for. No… More
  Revenge thrillers never appeal to our better natures. They pander to our lust for retribution, and get away with murder by appearing to offset wrong with right. <i>Death Wish</i> vigilantism goes too far when you no longer grasp who you are supposed to be rooting for. No sooner has Jamie Foxx demonstrated commitment to his art with <i>The Soloist</i> than he takes complete leave of his senses to play an unbelievable character utterly unlikable from start to finish. After a horror-movie opening sequence of a home invasion, in which Gerard Butler's ordinary, decent guy Clyde is stabbed and bound, helpless while his wife and little girl are at the mercy of a rapist-murderer and burglar sidekick (and is inexplicably left alive to identify his tormentors), he has all our sympathy. And he gets even more when the lesser of two evils is condemned to death, while the devil "co-operates" with the prosecution and gets a pass. We feel Clyde's pain. Ten years pass, which seems an arbitrary time lapse - until it emerges it would have taken at least that long for investor Clyde to have amassed a fortune, accrued hitman expertise and constructed a lair only a Bond villain could love, packed with surveillance equipment, explosives, gadgets and clothes racks of 101 disguises. He's like the Count of Monte Cristo if Edmond Dantes had mad IT skills and a degree in engineering. What ensues would just be silly if the cat-and-mouse game weren't so vicious, a series of indiscriminate slaughters when Clyde has flipped from betrayed victim to maniac on a senseless mission.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings