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Gary Gray and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer make several storytelling mistakes and the plot is filled with ill-advised character developments.įor one thing, Butler's grieving father and husband almost comes off better, more sympathetically than Foxx's self-involved, negligent father character. That includes lawyers and judges, and it means Nick may be his next target.ĭirector F. (He sabotages the execution of one and basically butchers the other.)īut then the surprisingly vindictive and resourceful Clyde takes one step further, by eliminating anyone who was involved in the original plea deal. So now the sole survivor of that attack, an inventor named Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler), is exacting his revenge.įirst, he kills the criminals in spectacular - even gruesome - fashion.
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Law abiding citizen plot movie#
The movie centered on Butlers Clyde, who saw his wife and daughter being murdered in front of him, but after the system lets their killer off lightly, he swears epic revenge. To save his nearly perfect conviction rate, he once allowed a rapist-murderer, Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte), to plead guilty to lesser charges. Law Abiding Citizen is one of the more intriguing of these vigilante efforts and starred Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. Jamie Foxx stars as Nick Rice, a Philadelphia district attorney who's now haunted by a case from his past. Like "Death Wish" and its ilk, this movie appears to argue that vigilantism and taking matters into your own hands is not only acceptable but that it may be the right thing to do in certain circumstances.
Law abiding citizen plot series#
A brilliant man orchestrates a series of high-profile murders that grip the city of Philadelphia - all from inside his jail cell. The resulting film is a confused, contrived mess that would be laughable if it weren't so noxious and mean-spirited.Īlso, the film sends one of the all-time worst messages about the justice system. Law Abiding Citizen is a crime thriller film. At least they know what kind of audience they're trying to please and what kind of message they're sending with their story content.Īnd at least they're more coherently, more tightly plotted than this alleged revenge-thriller, which fuses elements from so-called "torture-porn" movies like "Saw" onto paranoia thrillers like "Eagle Eye." And then it throws in some "Law & Order" legal maneuverings for good measure. Say what you will about the "Saw" movies. LAW ABIDING CITIZEN - ★1/2 - Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney rated R (violence, gore, profanity, drugs, rape, torture, vulgarity, slurs, brief partial nudity) in general release
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