Is it such a flawed end?

Rating: 6/10 (23 September 2011)

My first reaction to this film was to fault what seems like an unsatisfactory end to a story that builds up its attack on flawed judicial systems with their preoccupation with career, politics, anything but justice. I still feel it fails to a point but I do understand the final reasoning a little better. Shelton (Butler) obtains the oblivion he seeks, whilst Rice (Foxx) must live with a conscience that will catch up with him sometime. Perhaps there was justice after all.
Butler plays the "law abiding citizen" almost to perfection once he knows the law is no longer abiding to his reality. Bereft of his family, his reasons for being, he has no alternative than to use his flair, his genius, to seek to change others. That he plays his cards so wistfully is unsurprising given the triple whammy he suffers through fate. That he should seek to change such an odious set up as the one portrayed through Foxx's ambitious, duplicitous, and hypocritical character, is wholly commendable. That he commits murder along the way becomes logical within the story if unacceptable in real life.
But there is little morality within this tale, from the failure of the law enforcers, through to the bitterness of the battle between Shelton and the State machinery. Both sides are riddled with flaws. And perhaps that is the central point of the whole picture. Personally I would have preferred an ending where Shelton's character is always one step ahead of Rice and they perish together in the final scene - a real justice given what has gone before.
The acting is pretty strong throughout and makes up for some of the flaws in the storyline. A competent movie but it may just upset people for all the wrong reasons. Six out of ten.