Law Abiding Citizen

***Law Abiding Citizen*** is a 2009 American crime drama thriller film.

## Synopsis

A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

## Plot

In a home invasion, Clarence Darby kills the wife and daughter of Clyde Shelton. Prosecutor Nick Rice is unable to securely convict Darby. Unwilling to take a chance on lowering his high conviction rate, he makes a deal with Darby, who pleads guilty to a lesser charge and receives a reduced sentence for testifying against his accomplice, Rupert Ames. Ames is convicted and sentenced to death. Darby is released after a few years. Clyde feels betrayed by Rice's actions and the justice system.

Ten years later, Ames is executed. Unknown to the prosecutors and witnesses, the drug usually used has been replaced with an anticonvulsant, causing Ames to die painfully. Evidence implicates Darby. An anonymous caller alerts Darby as the police draw near and directs him to a remote location. Clyde, disguised as a police officer, reveals himself as the caller and paralyzes Darby with poison. He straps Darby to a table and videorecords dismembering him. When Darby's remains are found, evidence ties his death to Clyde. Clyde willingly surrenders and goes to prison.

Rice learns his wife and daughter have been sent the dismemberment video and traumatized by it. He initially refuses a plea bargain with Clyde, but District Attorney Jonas Cantrell orders Rice to make a deal. Clyde demands a new bed in his cell in exchange for a "confession." In court, Clyde represents himself and successfully argues he should be granted bail, then berates the judge for accepting the "bullshit" legal precedents he cited and for being too eager to let madmen and murderers back on the street. The judge jails Clyde for contempt of court.

Clyde demands a steak lunch and a music player be delivered to his cell by a specific time, in return for telling where to find Darby's lawyer, who was reported missing. Rice agrees, though the lunch is delayed by a few minutes by the warden's security measures. Once he has his meal, which he shares with a cellmate, Clyde provides a set of coordinates where Rice and the others find Darby's lawyer, buried alive but suffocated by time-mechanized materials while Clyde's dinner was delayed. As loud music plays in Clyde's cell, he proceeds to kill his cellmate with the bone of his steak, forcing the warden to secure him in solitary confinement.

Cantrell arranges a meeting with a CIA contact and brings Rice. They learn Clyde previously worked with the agency, creating imaginative assassination devices. They are warned Clyde can kill anyone anytime he wishes. During a meeting with Rice and Cantrell, the judge dies when her cell phone explodes. Clyde demands all charges against him be dropped or he will "kill everyone". Rice takes precautionary measures instead. After a deadline has passed, a number of Rice's assistants die from car bombs. Leaving the funeral of a colleague, Cantrell is killed by a weaponized bomb disposal robot. Rice meets with Clyde in private and punches him repeatedly. Clyde stands his ground and tells Rice that he is just beginning to destroy the current system and all who believe in it. The mayor puts the city under lockdown and promotes Rice to acting District Attorney.

Rice learns that Clyde owns an auto garage near the prison. A tunnel leads to a cache of guns, disguises, and other equipment below the solitary confinement cells, with secret entrances to each cell. He and Police Detective Dunnigan realize that Clyde wanted to be in solitary confinement all along; this allows him to easily leave the prison without detection, carry out his pre-meditated murders while misleading the cops who assume he must have accomplices. Evidence points to Clyde's next target, City Hall, where the mayor is holding an emergency meeting. Rice and his men cannot find Clyde but discover evidence pointing to a cell-phone-activated suitcase bomb in the room directly below the meeting.

Clyde returns to his cell. He is surprised to find Rice waiting for him. Clyde suggests another deal, but Rice says he no longer makes deals with murderers, thanking Clyde for teaching him that. Rice warns him to not do anything he will regret, Clyde's cell phone ready to be dialed to activate the City Hall bomb. Rice and Dunnigan leave immediately when Clyde dials the phone. Clyde realizes too late that Rice has moved the bomb to his cell, which is now sealed. Clyde holds his daughter's bracelet, accepting his fate as the bomb explodes.

The epilogue shows Rice watching his daughter in a musical performance on stage, something he had been unable to find time for previously.