Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 American vigilante action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer. It stars Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx and takes place in Philadelphia, telling the story of a man driven to seek justice while targeting not only his family's killer but also those who have supported a corrupt criminal justice system, intending to assassinate anyone supporting the system. Law Abiding Citizen was filmed on location in Philadelphia, and released theatrically by Overture Films in North America on October 16, 2009.
The film was nominated for a Saturn Award as the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film of the year, but lost to Inglourious Basterds. The film also garnered NAACP Image Awards nominations for both Jamie Foxx (Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture) and F. Gary Gray (Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture).
==Plot==
During a home invasion, Clarence Darby rapes & murders the wife and daughter of engineer Clyde Shelton, who is forced to watch. Prosecuting attorney Nick Rice is unable to convict Darby due to mishandled evidence. Unwilling to risk lowering his high conviction rate, he makes a deal with Darby; he testifies against his accomplice Rupert Ames (who only intended to steal from Clyde) so he is convicted and sentenced to death, while Darby pleads guilty to third degree murder and receives a lighter sentence. Clyde feels betrayed by Nick and the justice system.
Ten years later, during Ames' execution via lethal injection, he surprisingly dies in agonising pain. The police find the chemicals had been tampered with and evidence left behind implicates Darby; an anonymous caller warns him law enforcement are on their way to arrest him. Following the caller's instructions, Darby hijacks a police car, forcing a lone officer to drive to a deserted warehouse. The officer is revealed to be Clyde, the caller. Darby attempts to shoot Clyde, but instead the gun paralyzes Darby with tetrodotoxin-coated spikes. Clyde then straps Darby to a table and makes medical preparations to prolong Darby's suffering, recording himself slowly torturing and eventually murdering Darby. When Darby's remains are found, evidence ties his death to Clyde; Clyde willingly surrenders and goes to prison.
In prison, Clyde demands a new mattress in his cell in exchange for a "confession." Nick initially refuses, but after learning that Clyde traumatized Nick's family with the video of Darby's murder, District Attorney Jonas Cantrell orders Nick to make the deal. In court, Clyde represents himself and successfully argues he should be granted bail, but instead berates the judge for accepting the legal precedent he cited, believing the judge too easily convinced and eager to release potential criminals; Clyde is then denied bail and also jailed for contempt of court.
After giving Nick his confession, Clyde demands an elaborate steak lunch from Del Frisco's and a music player be delivered to his cell by a specific time, in exchange for the location of Darby's now-missing lawyer. Nick agrees, though the lunch is delayed a few minutes courtesy of the warden's security measures. Once he has his meal, Clyde provides the coordinates to the lawyer's location, but Darby's lawyer still suffocates inside a box due to a time-mechanized device. Meanwhile, Clyde kills his cellmate after sharing his meal, forcing the warden to secure him in solitary confinement.
Cantrell and Nick meet Bray, a CIA contact who knows about Clyde's past employment with the agency; Clyde's CIA employment consisted of eliminating nearly impossible targets. They are warned Clyde can kill anyone anytime he wishes and that his imprisonment may be part of a bigger plan. Bray finishes the meeting by suggesting to Nick and Cantrell that their best option is to kill Clyde. During a meeting with Nick and Cantrell, the judge is killed by an explosive hidden in her cell phone. Clyde explains to Nick that the murders are not about revenge, but the failures of the justice system. Clyde demands his release and all charges dropped to end the killings.
Nick takes precautionary measures instead, moving his entire team to the prison to work throughout the night. After Clyde's deadline passes without incident, Nick releases his team. While walking to his car, a number of Nick's assistants are killed in car bombings, including Nick's assistant Sarah. Nick privately meets with Clyde, beating and yelling at him in frustration that, if they had tried to convict Ames and Darby, they might have gone free. Clyde counters that Nick is apathetic and that if he had at least tried but failed, Clyde would have accepted it. Nick demands an end to the killings, but Clyde responds that he is just beginning. While leaving Sarah’s funeral, Cantrell is killed by a weaponized bomb disposal robot. Nick prepares to resign, but the irate mayor instead promotes Nick to acting District Attorney and locks the city down.
Nick learns that Clyde owns a building near the prison. A tunnel inside leads to a cache of guns, disguises, and other equipment below the solitary confinement cells, with secret entrances to each cell. Nick realizes that Clyde intentionally sought solitary confinement, allowing him to leave the prison undetected and kill while misleading the police. Evidence points to Clyde's next target, City Hall, where the mayor is holding an emergency meeting. Nick and his men fail to find Clyde, instead discovering a suitcase bomb planted in the room below the meeting.
Clyde returns to his cell and is surprised to find Nick waiting for him. Clyde suggests another deal, but an enlightened Nick replies that he no longer makes deals with murderers. Nick tries to reason with Clyde, but Clyde activates the suitcase bomb. Nick immediately leaves, locking Clyde's cell behind him while Dunnigan closes off the secret passage. Hearing the ringtone of the detonator, Clyde discovers the bomb Nick hid underneath his bed. Clyde briefly smiles and returns to his bed, looking at his daughter's bracelet as the bomb explodes.
The epilogue shows Nick watching his daughter in a musical stage performance, an event which he previously had difficulty finding time to attend.
==Cast==
* Jamie Foxx as Nicholas "Nick" Rice
* Gerard Butler as Clyde Alexander Shelton
* Viola Davis as Mayor April Henry
* Bruce McGill as Jonas Cantrell
* Leslie Bibb as Sarah Lowell
* Colm Meaney as Detective Dunnigan
* Regina Hall as Kelly Rice
* Michael Irby as Detective Garza
* Roger Bart as Brian Bringham
* Gregory Itzin as Warden Iger
* Emerald-Angel Young as Denise Rice
* Christian Stolte as Clarence James Darby
* Michael Kelly as Bray
* Annie Corley as Judge Laura Burch
* Richard Portnow as Bill Reynolds
* Josh Stewart as Rupert Ames
==Development==
Gerard Butler was initially signed on to play the prosecuting attorney, while Jamie Foxx was the criminal mastermind operating from inside prison, a reversal of their roles in the final version.
Frank Darabont was expected to direct the film, but he left production due to creative differences with the producers.
==Production==
Filming began in January 2009 and took place in and around Philadelphia. Filming locations included Philadelphia's City Hall, Laurel Hill Cemetery and the now closed Holmesburg Prison. Holmesburg's "Thunderdome command center" is quite evident in the movie.
The film was edited after being threatened with an NC-17 rating for violence, with the full version released unrated on Blu-ray.
==Soundtrack==
The score to Law Abiding Citizen was composed by Brian Tyler, who recorded his score with a 52-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage with help from Kieron Charlesworth. The film also uses "Eminence Front" by The Who and "Engine No. 9" by Deftones on Clyde's iPod while he is eating his steak in his cell. While Clyde calls Darby to help him 'escape' the police after Ames' execution, "Bloodline" by Slayer is Darby's ringer.
The tune at the end for closing credits is "Sin's A Good Man's Brother" by Grand Funk Railroad.
==Release==
The film was released theatrically on October 16, 2009. The first theatrical trailer was released on August 14, 2009, and was attached to District 9.
The premiere was held on November 15, 2009, at the Cineworld complex in Glasgow, Butler's home town. Many British tabloids labeled the event as the "Homecoming Premiere", in reference to the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations.
==Reception==
The film took second place in its opening weekend, with $21,039,502, behind Where the Wild Things Are. It went on to gross $126.6 million in total worldwide.
Law Abiding Citizen received generally negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 26% score, based on 159 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's critical consensus states that "Unnecessarily violent and unflinchingly absurd, Law Abiding Citizen is plagued by subpar acting and a story that defies reason." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
In his review for the Chicago Sun Times, Roger Ebert said, "Law Abiding Citizen is the kind of movie you will like more at the time than in retrospect." He then went on to say, "Still, there's something to be said for a movie you like well enough at the time." Ebert rated the film 3 out of 4 stars.
==See also==
* Vigilante film
* List of films featuring home invasions
==References==
==External links==
* 
Category:2009 films
Category:2000s vigilante films
Category:2009 action drama films
Category:2009 action thriller films
Category:2009 psychological thriller films
Category:2009 crime drama films
Category:2009 crime thriller films
Category:2000s prison films
Category:2000s psychological drama films
Category:American films
Category:American films about revenge
Category:American action drama films
Category:American action thriller films
Category:American crime drama films
Category:American crime thriller films
Category:American vigilante films
Category:American prison films
Category:English-language films
Category:Fictional portrayals of the Philadelphia Police Department
Category:Films about capital punishment
Category:Films about corruption
Category:Films about murderers
Category:Films directed by F. Gary Gray
Category:Films produced by Lucas Foster
Category:Films scored by Brian Tyler
Category:Films set in 1999
Category:Films set in 2009
Category:Films set in Philadelphia
Category:Films shot in Philadelphia
Category:Films with screenplays by Kurt Wimmer
Category:Home invasions in film
Category:Overture Films films
Category:Rape and revenge films