Genre: Drama | Thriller
(14 votes, average: 3.29 out of 5)
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Release: 16 October 2009
Revenge is served with bombs and chainsaws in the movie Law Abiding Citizen. It is a twisty mix of serial-killer suspense, prison drama and legal thriller. The movie in between its grisly set pieces, tries to raise important questions about the reason behind failures of our criminal justice system. But it’s Gerard Butler’s performance as a grieving father who turns into a serial killer psycho genius that powers this pulp entertainment that takes itself too serious. The actor packs enough shocks to lure thrill-seeking audience to watch Law Abiding Citizen online.
The movie doesn’t waste any time in plunging the audience into a horrific yet domestic bloodbath. Two men storm into the home of Clyde Shelton (played by Butler) and force him to watch them killing his wife and daughter. But the screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer never examines just how Clyde survives the assault. He abandons the sight of crime and tries to prosecute the attackers in court of law.
But he fails to convict the killers as he doesn’t have sufficient evidence against them. After the trial, prosecutor Nick Rice (played by Jamie Foxx), a lawyer accustomed to compromise, makes a deal with the criminal, Darby (played by Christian Stolte) and sends the attacker to the death row. But for Clyde, who has waited ten years to get justice, that’s not nearly good enough. He kidnaps Darby and lays him on a table apparently to torture him.
But if you are a real torture-porn aficionado, you will be a little disappointed. Editor Tariq Anwar cuts the shot right before the blade meets Darby’s flesh. But in some other places, Law Abiding Citizen proves extremely graphic. Clyde’s killing spree continues and he targets the key players in the murder case.
Even when he’s caught, he stays 10 steps ahead of everyone, including Nick, who tries to stop him. But like a younger Hannibal Lecter, Clyde plays mind games and makes strange demands.
But Foxx is overmatched by Butler in this movie. Even if he can’t make sense of Clyde’s psychology, he clearly loves the challenge. Whether he’s eating a steak or, in the Law Abiding Citizen’s most impressive moment, snapping at a judge, Butler has given the movie a pulse.
Butler has played such a charismatic antihero that you can’t stop yourself from rooting for him. This is both, a compliment to his performance and a sign dramatic handicap of the movie. Director F. Gary Gray lends the movie a lot of procedural flair and has given attention to detail. But Law Abiding Citizen winds up looking feeling overwritten, but still under explained. It forgoes many plausible revelations for gusty debate about ethical challenges of upholding and practicing the law. The suspense of the movie starts to deflate even though people keep getting killed like mosquitoes.
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