Law Abiding Citizen Review
Jamie Foxx Faces off Against Gerard Butler in Gray Grant's Thriller
Nov 10, 2009
Brace yourself for non-stop suspense in Law Abiding Citizen, a superior thriller from Alliance Films. Timely and smart direction from F. Gary Gray takes you behind the scenes in a courtroom thriller that puts shame to all those earlier Perry Mason encounters.
Philadelphia has long been known as the city of brotherly love. Forget that image as the gloves come off early when an innocent man sees his family brutalized. Think Charles Bronson’s classic Death Wish and you get the picture. By all accounts Clyde Shelton is a man who deserves see justice done.
We all know that justice travels slowly. Take any jurisdiction across North America and there are problems galore with the way courts work. Imagine the pain Shelton feels when prosecutors appear to “go soft” on his family’s attackers. All Shelton wants is revenge or some proper accounting of how the courts operate. They are supposed to protect the innocent and jail the criminals only in this case something has gone off the rails.
Lawyers come Under The Gun as a Master Criminal decides to Reverse the Scales of Justice
Responsible for prosecuting the original case against the criminals in question was Nick Rice. Happily married with a family on the rise Rice is supposed to be one of the smartest members of the prosecution pool. Let’s say our Rice man turns out to be the man of the hour. Rice was the lawyer who tried the first case and the surviving victim, Clyde Shelton, believes justice was not served.
Mad and calculating Shelton decides to mete out his own brand of justice. What follows is a delicious cat and mouse game with the authorities battling a certifiable madman in the best
Hanibal Lector tradition. Law Abiding Citizen is one movie that never lets up and keeps you on the edge of your seats, guessing what’s to come next throughout its 109 minute delivery.
Fox and Butler Are a Great One Two Punch as Combatants in a Legal Fight to the Finish
Suspense thrillers rely on great chemistry between the actors and here the producers have got a top flight crew onhand. Sly Jamie Foxx (The Kingdom) leaves his smart aleck persona at home and admirably plays a hard-edged family man whose belief in doing the right thing from a judicial standpoint may be fit for the academic world but in practice comes up a bit wanting. Better still is the cocky attitude exhibited by Gerard Butler (The Ugly Truth) who is nothing short of brilliant as the self-centered Shelton, a man on a mission and heaven help anyone in his way.
Director Gary Gray knows his way around suspense stories as he honed his craft on the sensational The Negotiator. Not missing a beat Gray keeps you on the edge of your seats as we enter into the high tech world of murder most foul. Onlookers will be shaken and stirred but certainly lapping up all the mischievous mayhem that this film uncorks. Perfect pacing and unabated tension doesn’t give you much time to catch your breath in this most pleasing smartly written and brilliantly negotiated thriller. Sure, there are a few minor inconsistencies in the story but all the ingenious traps set up in this well drafted hide and seek story make it engaging from start to finish.
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