Law Abiding Citizen 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. The film takes place in Philadelphia and tells the story of a man who decides to exact justice on both his family's killers and the criminal justice system. Law Abiding Citizen was released theatrically in North America on October 16, 2009.

 

The film was nominated for a Saturn Award as the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film of the year, and the film also garnered NAACP Image Awards nominations for both Jamie Foxx (Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture) and F. Gary Gray (Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Law Abiding Citizen,” a blunt and sadistic revenge thriller starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, occasionally pauses from the mayhem to stage a solemn debate about law, justice and morality. Mr. Butler, playing a family man whose wife and daughter were murdered by thugs, feels he was let down by the system, which gave one of the thugs a light sentence in exchange for testimony against the other thug, who was sentenced to death. Mr. Foxx, the prosecutor who made that deal, thinks that the system, however imperfect, did its job.

 

But really, “Law Abiding Citizen” has about as much to say about real-life legal issues as “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen” had to say about defense policy. And it has less ethical gravity than any three of the “Saw” movies. Though it sometimes puts on a serious face, this movie, directed with snarling, snappish style by F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job”), wears its preposterousness with a certain pride. It’s about the cat-and-mouse game between two very smart guys, and it’s perfectly happy to be as dumb as it wants.

 

Nick Rice, Mr. Foxx’s character, is slick and ambitious, proud of his 96 percent conviction rate and quite sure that he’s the cleverest and coolest person in the room. This does not seem like much of a stretch for Mr. Foxx, who is cashing in on his Oscar rather than going after a second one. Mr. Butler, for his part, displays a surliness that many in Hollywood seem to mistake for charisma, and suffers the anguish of violent bereavement as if it were an annoying gastrointestinal ailment.

 

His character, Clyde Shelton, returns 10 years after the death of his family to tie up some loose ends. He dispatches the thugs, willingly goes to prison and starts doing dinner theater Hannibal Lecter for Mr. Foxx’s benefit. “Some lessons must be learned in blood,” Clyde declares, one of many portentous proverbs that he seems to have learned during his career as a military killing-gizmo specialist.

 

The details of his job history are revealed, during a secret meeting in a tunnel somewhere, late in the movie. But don’t think I’ve spoiled anything. By the time I saw “Law Abiding Citizen,” I had already seen the trailer four or five times. Another 40 viewings would have added up to the running time of the whole film, without much loss of pleasure or nuance.

Well, that’s not entirely true. Most of the fun in the feature-length “Law Abiding Citizen” comes not from the cleverly rigged explosions and bloodlettings — including one unleashed by a robot in a cemetery — but rather from the game and gifted supporting cast, who are not featured in the two-minute trailer version.

 

Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb and Bruce McGill are all much better than they need to be, as is Viola Davis in a few scenes as the mayor of Philadelphia, where this bloodbath takes place. You can’t help regretting that some of their characters will meet fiery or bloody ends. on the other hand, the actors were no doubt paid well for their suffering.

“Law Abiding Citizen” is rated R. It has a lot of grisly and sometimes imaginative violence and some swearing too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directed by F. Gary Gray; written by Kurt Wimmer; director of photography, Jonathan Sela; edited by Tariq Anwar; production designer, Alex Hajdu; produced by Gerard Butler, Lucas Foster, Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, Mr. Wimmer and Robert Katz; released by Overture Films. Running time: 1 hour 48 minutes.

 

WITH: Jamie Foxx (Nick Rice), Gerard Butler (Clyde Shelton), Leslie Bibb (Sarah Lowell), Bruce McGill (Jonas Cantrell), Colm Meaney (Detective Dunnigan), Viola Davis (Mayor April Henry), Michael Irby (Detective Sean Garza), Regina Hall (Kelly Rice) and Gregory Itzin (Warden Iger).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.lawabidingcitizenfilm.com/

http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/movies/16law.html