Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

1.5

CRIME/THRILLER

U.S. Release Date: 10/16/09
Running Length: 108 Minutes
MPAA Classification:  R (Violence, Profanity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio:  2:35:1
Cast:  Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb
Director: F. Gary Gray
Screenplay: Kurt Wimmer
Cinematography: Jonathan Sela
Music:  Brian Tyler
U.S. Distributor:  Overture Films

Review by: Carter Moulton, for The State News

© The State News, 2009

10/20/09

Law Abiding Citizen asks us to believe Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte), a dirty, greasy, scraggly haired, tattooed criminal, is deeply theological. As Darby rapes and kills Clyde Shelton’s (Gerard Butler) wife and daughter, he turns to Shelton, who’s helpless on the floor, looks him in the eyes, and mutters, “You can’t fight fate.”

A deep statement for a cracked-out junkie, but what does that statement even mean? In the context of the film, it means absolutely nothing; it’s the definition of “trying too hard.” Like its floppy script, Law Abiding Citizen is a completely pointless jumble of good-guy, bad-guy talk dressed up as a psychological thriller—and shouldn't it be "Law-Abiding Citzen?"

Jamie Foxx stars as Nick Rice, a by-the-book prosecutor who is attached to Shelton’s case. Shelton wants life behind bars or the death sentence for the two criminals involved in his wife and daughter’s death, but the legal system isn’t that simple. “It’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove in court,” Rice tells Shelton.

Photo © Overture Films

Darby only gets five years in prison, and Shelton becomes hidden from society for ten years. Then we get the “ten years later” subtitle. Sometime during that ten-year span, Shelton, with whom we’re supposed to sympathize with at the beginning, turns into a complete monster. Determined to flip the legal system on its head for its inability to provide justice, Shelton starts to kill people, beginning with the people involved in his case. His plan doesn’t make much sense, but it’s a logical idea compared to the twists that follow.

In a Saw-like manner, we see people die in strange ways at the hands of Shelton, even though he’s in prison. If Rice and company want to stop the murders, they’ll have to meet Shelton’s demands, which include a comfortable bed for his cell and a steak dinner. After one such request, Rice, who’s fed up with making deals with a murderer, responds, “Or what?” Shelton says in reply, “Or I kill everyone.” I doubt it.

There are some cheap thrills, one involving a cell phone, but for the most part it’s verbal chess between Shelton and Rice. Shelton swears his killings have nothing to do with vengeance, which makes no sense, given his situation.

Foxx is passable as Rice, despite the clichéd work-versus-family conflict he struggles with. Foxx clinches his eyebrows throughout most of the film, trying to convince us that Shelton’s got his goat. Butler is okay in his part—I never really warmed up to him—but Shelton’s character is too over-the-top. Writer Kurt Wimmer tries to convince us that a generous father figure really could turn into a flamboyant Looney Tune of a killer, but as soon as the credits roll, it’s apparent that Law Abiding Citizen just doesn’t work.