This review was written by Tommy Havner, originally posted on my former podcast, Late Night Computing, on October 22, 2009.
Law Abiding Citizen
Starring: Gerard Butler (300, The Ugly Truth)
Jamie Foxx (Ray, Miami Vice)
Directed by F. Gary Gray (Be Cool, The Italian Job)The premise:
After his wife and child are murdered by two criminals, Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is informed that one of the murderers will be sentenced to death but the other one will get off because of his cooperation with the police. Shelton decides to take justice in his own hands, including getting revenge on the murderers as well as those in the system responsible for setting the one murderer free. District Attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), one of those who helped set the murderer free, tries to stop Shelton.
Law Abiding Citizen starts out with a really good idea. Shelton feels cheated by the justice system so he sets out to get justice on his own. Unfortunately, it isn’t really that simple. Don’t get me wrong, Shelton does get revenge, but his alleged goal in the movie is to “bring down the system.” It is never really explained how exactly what he is doing is going to help bring about the changes he wants.
The best part of the movie to me was the arraignment of Shelton. District Attorney Rice calls for bail to be set and Shelton (who has apparently spent a lot of time researching the law) starts citing other cases and ends up getting the judge to rule that he should be let go without bail. Before the judge can finish, Shelton blows up on her, explaining that this is exactly what’s wrong with the system: she’s about to let a murderer back on the street because of some loophole. I thought this was really good, but that’s about as close as the movie came to making a point. After that, it was more of Shelton proving how much smarter he was than everyone else by killing more people.
Don’t misunderstand me, Law Abiding Citizen is a very entertaining movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it never really lives up to the idea that sets forth. It is pretty fast paced, brutal in a place or two and the ending is a pretty predictable. But it is definately entertaining and worth watching.
I give it 3 out of 4.
Ranking system:
1 = Avoid this movie at all costs.
2 = Okay, but wait for video.
3 = See it at the theatre.
4 = Do not miss this movie.
Tommy pretty much covers it. The movie was very much worth watching. I wish I would have seen this in theaters. I just recently watched it on DVD and it is a great movie. However, like Tommy said, it never really did get around to making a point as to how to change the system.
I also agree with Tommy about one of the best parts of the movie being when he is having a hearing for bail. The prosecutor says that Shelton will be providing a full confession. Shelton then gives some other court cases that prove that according to the system, there is no legal means for him to be held. However, he knows that he is guilty and so does the judge and the prosecutor.
Overall, the movie is a good look into how messed up the “Justice” system in America is today, and just how crazy a person can become from having to deal with it. If you like thriller movies, I’d recommend buying this DVD. It is one that can be rewatched. If you don’t want to buy it, at least rent it for sure.
I was the first person to register and pay for my ticket to BarCamp Jonesboro!
