Good solid and a little unusual thriller

Rating: 8/10 (18 August 2010)

Recap: One terrible and fateful night ten years ago, Clyde was stabbed in is home and made to watch the brutal killings of his wife and young daughter by two burglars. In the following trial, the main perpetrator uses the legal systems to cut a deal with Nick, the hot shot district attorney handling the case, to avoid the death penalty. Clyde is devastated, but powerless to do anything about it. Ten years later it is time for the death penalty for the accomplice to be carried out, but the supposedly calm execution turns into a brutal killing. Soon after that the burglar responsible is murdered in the most gruesome way. There seem to be someone out for vengeance, and Nick can think of only one suspect.
Comments: Surprisingly good, even though the two leading actors in Gerard Butler and especially Jamie Foxx do raise some expectations. It is a little out of the ordinary crime thriller with a thick and well written plot, giving it a deep suspense throughout the movie. Even though it is no secret who did what, it still manages to not only keep the suspense, but add another level to it. Just because that we precisely know who, but not how, there are a new element of uncertainty.
Foxx and Butler fits well with their characters and give nice performances. They have got good support from (most notably) Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb and Bruce McGill as well. But a warning should be made. It is a very honest movie with its special effects and do show more of the gruesome details of the killings than other movies. Hence it is quite bloody and might not be for anybody. You got to have the stomach for it, or at least a handy pillow in case you don't.
8/10