A hit and miss for my liking, with an abrupt ending.

Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2010)

Law Abiding Citizen was a fairly entertaining watch for me, mainly due to the masterful performances from Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. I really dug the opening to Law Abiding Citizen, because not only was it powerful but eye-opening as well, seeing Gerard break down over what happened to his family was heartbreaking. What bugged me about Law Abiding Citizen was it's annoying inconsistency with its pacing. It really seemed to drag on at a few points by being too talky, and it left me looking at the clock to see how much time was left. Also I had trouble feeling sympathy for Gerard or Jamie's characters because of them were quite selfish in many ways. Gerard's took it way too far to prove his point to the point where I stopped feeling sympathy for him, I don't believe in killing innocent people. Jamie's character was always in it for himself, not really thinking of what Gerard wanted and became more and more stubborn through the film until the end. The ending itself just seemed to be all thrown together, and as a result I didn't get the payoff I wanted.
Performances. Jamie Foxx is excellent as Nick. He's ruthless with a good heart at the same time, though his increasing stubbornness and his unlikable character at times had me having problems relating to him. Gerard Butler gives one of the most intense performances I've seen in a while. While I didn't agree with his actions and therefore it ruined some of the experience for me, his performance was nothing short of outstanding, and I especially loved his confrontations with Jamie at the prison.
Bottom line. Law Abiding Citizen has it's entertaining moments, but its too inconsistent for my liking. It had a promising start, and the potential was there, I just couldn't relate to the movie as a whole. It's worth a look to pass the time, just keep your expectations low.
6/10