Law Abiding Citizen Movie Review

Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx Star in Far-Fetched Crime Thriller

Oct 15, 2009

An engineering genius uses his skills against the corrupt legal system in Philadelphia to avenge the deaths of his family members.

Law Abiding Citizen wastes no time in getting to the action. The movie begins with a brutal home invasion in which the perpetrators murder the wife and daughter of a successful engineer while he is forced to watch. The bereaved husband, Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler of Gamer) pleads with the prosecutor to get both men convicted. Even so, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx of Ray), the ambitious prosecutor, strikes a plea deal with the more violent offender as payoff for his testimony against his accomplice. Nick figures that in order to maintain his stellar conviction rate, partial justice is better than the chance of no justice at all.

Gerard Butler Stars as a Man Seeking Justice

Clyde, however, doesn’t quite agree with Nick’s philosophy of justice. Ten years later, when one of the convicted murderers leaves death row to meet his extraordinary demise, his partner (the one who got away with murder) is found tortured to death. The trail of clues leads directly to Clyde, who freely admits his guilt in a series of negotiations. He then issues warnings to the entire justice system that until they stop making deals with murderers, he will kill various Philadelphia justice and penal system employees associated with the earlier trial.

When his demands are not met, Clyde orchestrates high-tech assassinations from his jail cell. Nick watches as his associates get slain one by one, and fears for the life of his own wife and daughter, knowing that he and his family will eventually be targeted when Clyde tires of playing his games. With the city under siege, the legal team works around the clock to get the killings under control and locate Clyde’s outside accomplice.

The big city location and cold temperatures fit into the overall story. Last winter, director Kurt Wimmer filmed on location around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition to snowy outdoor scenes, attentive viewers can see the actors’ breath even during some of the indoor scenes. The attorneys and bureaucrats wear heavy wool coats with scarves throughout most of the film, as if their emotions remain buried under many layers of fabric. Meanwhile, the still-grieving Clyde even appears naked in one scene, an obvious attempt to show police that he is unarmed and a less-obvious attempt to show the viewer that his emotions are exposed for all to see.

With his family taken from him so unjustly and his raw emotions laid bare, Clyde becomes a highly sympathetic character despite his warped view of justice, which involves gruesome torture, psychological intimation, and death. Conversely, the prosecuting attorney and his entire staff appear as money-lusting, power-hungry deal makers ready to sell their souls for a raise and promotion. The question of whether or not the end justifies the means weaves itself throughout the movie. (Judging by the frequent cheering in the audience at an advanced promotional screening on October 13, the answer would be yes – at least for Clyde.)

As Butler’s character morphs from loving father to grieving family man to crazed engineering genius, his face reflects these shifting emotions. Although Butler and Foxx carry the movie, supporting actors Leslie Bibb (Confessions of a Shopaholic), Viola Davis (Madea Goes to Jail), Bruce McGill (W.), Regina Hall (Superhero Movie), and Colm Meaney (Star Trek: The Next Generation) do their best to embody their underwritten, one-dimensional characters. Christian Stolte (Prison Break) makes the most of his limited screen time as the detestable villain Clarence Darby.

Although the film includes brutal violence, pyrotechnics, and other special effects, this thriller also contains some thought-provoking questions that may disturb audience members expecting a mindless action-packed adventure, rather than a high-tech, far-fetched morality tale.

For more information about Law Abiding Citizen, including the online games “One Step Ahead” and “Law Abiding Citizen Mashup,” visit the film’s official website.

The copyright of the article Law Abiding Citizen Movie Review in Action Films/Thrillers is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Law Abiding Citizen Movie Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.