I had never seen Law Abiding Citizen until now. I had heard mixed things about it, and because of that I braced myself for the worst. I have to say that I thought this was a decent movie, and I found myself entertained by it.
Law Abiding Citizen is the story of a man who takes justice into his own hands after one of his family's killers goes free. I enjoyed this movie because of the story. This movie is not about a man who seeks revenge against the men who killed his family. This movie is about a man who wants to bring down what he believes to be a corrupt system. It is because of this that this movie is far more compelling than your generic action movie. With all this in mind, the film does have several flaws. Firstly, it is a major plot point in the film that Clyde Shelton's (Gerard Butler) family is murdered. However, we never actually see his daughter get killed. Without seeing this, there is no emotional context that would have been there otherwise. And I swear that Gerard Butler's character gets called different names throughout the movie. Also, it is said that Shelton's daughter is ten years old and yet the child actress that plays her looks about five. It also feels like Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) learns the killer's names out of nowhere. Another thing that bothered me is when Shelton is taken into custody, it feels a little forced....and why does he strip naked??? It honestly felt like one of those "good looking guy gets naked for no reason" scenes. Also, it's never really clear whether Leslie Bibb's character has broken up with her boyfriend or not. And it is also never clear whether Shelton has an accomplice or not. As I said before, this film has a great story. It just could have been executed so much better.
Jamie Foxx plays Nick Rice. Rice is a successful attorney, and because of that success he has a huge ego. This is great character for Foxx to play because we see in his scenes with Gerard Butler that he is a man who is not easily broken. It is only after Rice's closest friends are killed that we see him snap. Foxx is so good at holding back emotion, which plays great against Gerard Butler's genius, maniacal Clyde Shelton.
Gerard Butler plays Clyde Shelton. Shelton is a great character for Butler to play because he is so vicious, but also because his motives are so clear. He has you on the edge of your seat for the entire movie not just because of what he is going to do next, but how he is going to do it. Also, for being a Scotsman, Butler does a pretty good American accent.
F. Gary Gray is the director of Law Abiding Citizen. For me, what stands out in this film are the dialogue scenes between Butler and Foxx because of the way they're directed. They are slow and drawn out, which makes those scenes very tense. Also, just because it is F. Gary Gray, the action is superbly shot. The beginning of the film is also very well done because we see close-ups of the Clyde and his family as his family is being killed. This makes this scene so much more emotional, and really makes you feel for Clyde as he goes on his killing spree. No F. Gary Gray film is anything less than good, which is exactly what Law Abiding Citizen is.
I had fun watching Law Abiding Citizen. Even though it has it's share of problems, it is an entertaining film because of the story and the great acting. For those two reasons, if you have not seen this film, you should do so.
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