Movie Review: Law Abiding Citizen

By FOX43tv.com's Film Reviewer, Stephanie Cooke

Watch the trailer!

This movie is not a typical thriller in many ways:  You don't immediately know how it will end.  It is not plagued with bad acting by ALL of the main actors.  And it does have a message.  Although it does tend to waffle a little on what that message is.

Law Abiding Citizen is the story of Clyde (Gerard Butler) and the justice system after the savage deaths of his wife and daughter.  Clyde meets Nick (Jamie Foxx), a hot shot in the DIstrict Attorney's office who makes a deal with one of the two killers - the one who actually did it - in exchange for his testimony that sends the accomplice to the death sentence.  Clyde cannot believe it, and he decides not to take it.

Beginning ten years after the convictions with the actual carrying out of the death sentence, Clyde begins the systematic execution of those involved in what he sees as the miscarriage of justice.  Nick is determined to do whatever necessary to get a confession out of Clyde.  Clyde continues his killings while in jail and then even in solitary confinement. He seems always a step ahead of Nick and the other investigators, and even when they begin to figure what he's going to do next, they can't seem to stop it. 

A lot of the plot thumbs its nose at common sense, but as a viewer, I found that I was so entertained, I let it go.  It is smart in its methods.  I didn't figure out the HOW of the movie until seconds before it was revealed, and by then I had fallen for the movie's entertaining side and let go how crazy the explanation was. 

There is a lot of violence in this movie which is how it masquerades as a revenge plot most of the time.  There are some scenes that will make even the most steady viewer feel the need to look away.  Eventually the revenge part of the plot fades away and the message is "justice must be served".  But even that message seems lost through all of the violence.

Law Abiding Citizen is written by Kurt Wimmer.  The screenplay has its moments, but at times falls short for me. I did feel the pain of Clyde for about half the movie and then I stopped caring about him and stayed focused on how he was doing the killing.  For me, I wish the character had been written stronger and kept me caring.  I never really felt anything for Nick.  I didn't think this was a shining moment for Jamie Foxx as an actor.  He was alright, but I have to admit there were times I thought to myself, Come on, Jamie, you can do better than that.

F. Gary Gray's direction is not perfect, but there was some amazing cinematography.  The explosions were breathtaking and one of the final shots involving the spread of fire was cinematic art at its best. 

For the most part, I was entertained by Law Abiding Citizen , but there was one thing that really annoyed me about the movie, something that it is SO clearly missing.  And that is a hyphen!  Do we really need to dumb down our grammar for movie titles and posters?  No!  So now that I have written the entire review respecting the title throughout, there's something I must do:  Law-Abiding Citizen.  Whew.  I feel better.