Law Abiding Citizen (Overture Films)
Rated R for strong bloody brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape, and pervasive language.
Starring Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Michael Irby, Gregory Itzin, Regina Hall, Emerald-Angel Young, Christian Stolte, Annie Corley, Richard Portnow, Viola Davis, Michael Kelly, Josh Stewart.
Written by Kurt Wimmer.
Directed by F. Gary Gray.
GRADE: B
REVIEWJustice prevails, but that doesn't mean everybody likes the outcome. That's the premise of
Law Abiding Citizen, a tense new drama starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler.
Butler stars as Clyde Shelton, a man whose wife and daughter were brutally murdered during a home invasion 10 years prior. Jamie Foxx plays Nick Rice, the young prosecutor who made a deal with the man who actually committed the crimes in order to get a death sentence for the accomplice. This does not sit well with Clyde, who secretly plots a bloody vengeance; not only against the men who killed his family but also against the key players in the justice system he believes failed him.
When the accomplice's death sentence turns from a painless injection into a horrific torture, Nick and police investigators are led back to Clyde, who seems all too cooperative, except for his demand for jail cell creature comforts. Before his arrest, Clyde disposes of his family's real killer in a most gruesome manner, which he captures on video and sends a DVD copy to Nick's family (think:
Saw meets
Texas Chainsaw Massacre).
Soon, others begin to die, including the judge who accepted the plea deal 10 years before, and Nick's entire prosecution team, including the district attorney himself (Bruce McGill). The trouble for the so-called protagonists in this suspenseful drama is the prime suspect for all the brutal deaths (including on using an exploding cell phone) is supposedly behind bars. He must have an accomplice doing his bidding on the outside, they think.
As the twisted story comes to a close, Nick must confront Clyde and deal with his evil plans to expand his vengeance before more innocent people are killed.
Law Abiding Citizen's suspense is well-played, reminiscent of other cop-courtroom-mysteries like several Grisham book-to-film offerings. Foxx does well as a tough-minded and slick lawyer who must deal with some tough consequences of his legal wheeling and dealing. Butler also does well in his role of a grieving husband and father who turns to evil designs to make a social point about the flaws in America's justice system.
The problem with
Law Abiding Citizen is its far-fetched story, which calls for more than a little imagination to suspend reality. Butler's character as a seemingly normal guy who is clever enough to design several Rube Goldberg killing contraptions while apparently rotting away in a Pennsylvania Prison solitary cell (a tunnel? really?) is a little insulting to the audience's intelligence as well.
The idea of a criminal mastermind able to bring death to his enemies from inside jail is a premise we've seen before, like in
Silence of the Lambs, only not as clever.
Still, there are plenty of jump-out-of your seat moments that keep
Law Abiding Citizen from being too predictable.
