Butler portrays a vengeful father/husband in this action-thriller

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2010)

Gerard Butler is an interesting actor. He has done comedies (The Ugly Truth) and many action movies (300, Gamer). Personally, I think he is better as an action star. In Law Abiding Citizen, he plays a man with a plan to take down the justice system. The movie is a good thriller with lots of violence and mystery.
Clyde Sheldon (Gerard Butler) is an honest, law abiding, family man until two home-invaders attack Clyde and murder his wife and daughter. Jamie Foxx plays Nick Rice, a lawyer who decides to make a deal with one of the killers. Flash forward ten years, one of the murderers is being given lethal injection, while the other perpetrator has gone free after a short prison term. When the injection goes horribly wrong and the other killer is found mutilated in a warehouse, Clyde gives himself up to the police as the murderer. From within the prison walls, Clyde begins to orchestrate the assassination of anyone involved in the case.
The story is a classic locked-room mystery, how does Clyde continue to kill people even after he has been locked up? The answer to this question I thought was a little weak of an idea, but it was still inventive and proved just how resourceful Clyde was. Otherwise, the story is believable and makes for a good thriller. I felt that the script was quite good for a mystery-thriller, one of my favorite quotes comes when Clyde Sheldon states that he is "gonna bring the whole f***in' diseased, corrupt temple down on your head. It's gonna be biblical."
I bought Gerard Butler as a nice, family man. He was also believable as a vicious serial killer (although ideally I would have preferred to see Clyde fall into madness, but this would be a whole other movie). Gerard Butler does seem a little bit too nice when he tortures the murderer of his family, but when you consider what he's doing, and how he talks about it later, his character is actually quite real. Jamie Foxx is good as a lawyer, but he doesn't show as much emotional depth as I think could have come from this role.
Overall, Law Abiding Citizen is a good movie to watch, especially for people who like action-thrillers. The film is gritty, violent and is enjoyable to watch.