Law Abiding Citizen

Rating: 5/10 (1 March 2012)

I may have heard about this film at least once at the time of its release, and as I heard more about the plot I was certainly more intrigued to watch it, from director F. Gary Gray (The Negotiator, The Italian Job). Basically the Shelton family have their home broken into, and father/husband Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) witnesses his wife and young daughter murdered by the perpetrators, Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte) and his partner Rupert Ames (Joshua Stewart). The police do manage to catch the criminals, both due to face court, and Shelton is represented by prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), but the lawyer doesn't believe their case is strong enough because of lack of evidence that proves they are guilty. Even though Clyde knows that he is a criminal and did do the crime, Darby has a deal made where Ames testifies against him and his partner is allowed to go free, Clyde feels highly betrayed, not by Rice, but by the law system itself. Ten years pass, and Ames is being executed by lethal injection, but whereas the process would normally be quick and painless, with the three doses in a certain order, the order is changed making his death slow and painful, he suffers in death. The authorities believe that his partner Darby is responsible for the botching of the execution, but he has disappeared after receiving an anonymous phone call that leads him to an abandoned warehouse, and there the unknown caller reveals himself, it is Clyde. He paralyses the criminal so that he cannot move, and using power tools slowly mutilates him until dead, and after finding the body, Nick, his assistant Sarah Lowell (Leslie Bibb), Detective Dunnigan (Colm Meaney), Destective Garza (Michael Irby) and the authorities know who did it, and arrest Clyde. He does not deny his guilt at killing Darby, but he says he will make a full confession if he gets a new and more comfortable mattress in his cell, which he does get. In court he represents himself, but Judge Laura Burch (Annie Corley) grants him bail, so he lashes out, and in the heat of the argument he is eventually held in contempt of court. Clyde does give his confession, but he reveals that he has also kidnapped Darby's attorney, Bill Reynolds (Richard Portnow), and he will only reveal his location if he gets a good steak meal and his iPod by 1:00pm the next day. The authorities know he is playing a dangerous game, but Nick agrees to go along with it, but because the meal and iPod arrive eight minutes late, they get to the Reynolds' location too late, while Clyde's cell mate is brutally stabbed by the steak bone, and he is put in solitary confinement. Evidence is found by Sarah that Clyde is a technical genius, with connections in the Department of Defence, and Nick and District Attorney Jonas Cantrell (Bruce McGill) learn more from CIA contact (Michael Kelly) that he can eliminate targets in various unconventional ways. Judge Burch is killed next after a cell phone explosion, and Clyde says that he will kill "everyone" if he is not released with charges cleared by 6:00am the next morning, but his demands are not met, and five staff members, including Sarah, are killed in car explosion. Mayor April Henry (Doubt's Viola Davis) knows that the situation is becoming increasingly out of hand, and she assigns protection to Nick and Jonas, but even one of them can't escape an attack, after Jonas is killed at Sarah's funeral by a robot with machine guns. After trying to get out of the situation with fail, the Mayor makes him the Acting District Attorney, but then he finds a lead from Sarah's boyfriend, and he and Dunnigan find a garage near the prison, with tunnels underneath leading to the various cells. Apparently Clyde's next move is to cause disaster at Philadelphia City Hall, where he passes security as a fake janitor, and he plans to kill the Mayor and her security colleagues, so Nick rushes to find the bomb, which he and the disposal specialist discover it is activated by a cell phone call. They are neither unable to deactivate the bomb or evacuate the building without risking the fact that Clyde may be watching on the cameras, he meanwhile has returned to his cell, where Nick is there waiting to reason with him about his actions. After warning him about his choice to activate the bomb, Nick leaves him, and Clyde calls the cell phone to detonate the bomb, only then does he realise it has been moved, it is underneath his bed, and he kills himself, and Nick meanwhile, and his wife Kelly (Scary Movie's Regina Hall), happily attend the recital of their daughter Denise (Emerald-Angel Young). Also starring Gregory Itzin as Warden Iger. Butler gives a great performance with both hidden aggression that comes out, and he has intelligent tactics to create a stir in the law system he is taking it out on, and Foxx is really good as the man who is trying to work out his next move and stop him, the supporting cast do alright as well. You can think of it as a more up scale revenge film, like Death Wish if you like, but with more explosions, I will admit there are predictable moments and I was unsure whether Butler was a good guy or bad guy, because you were meant to sympathise with him losing his family, but I guess it's not important, it is just a crime thriller that's quite fun. Worth watching!