Law Abiding Citizen puts great actors against each other: Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. It’s a fun movie and it’s exciting to watch these two actors in action. My only wish is that the story would have been a little better. It’s not terrible and has some freshness to it, but it goes the way you think and ends the way you think.
Clyde Shelton (Butler) is a nice family man who is trying to be the best dad and husband he can be. Life as he knows it changes when his wife and daughter are murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice (Foxx) is in charge of the trial and makes a deal without telling Clyde. The deal is that one guy gets a lighter sentence for ratting out his accomplice. So Nick has to tell Clyde that it’s over, and the guiltiest man serves the lightest sentence. The last thing Clyde sees is Nick shaking hands with the murderer.
10 years pass and the accomplice gets more than he bargained for when he is put to death, and the other guy is found brutally murdered. He is missing most of his body parts. Clyde is caught and put in prison. It was his choice, and when Nick and Clyde come face-to-face again, Clyde warns him to fix the flawed justice system or anyone who played a part in his families’ trial will die.
It is a unique story about a man who has turned his back on the justice system and wants it to collapse on itself. Clyde is practically a problem-solver. But he goes to the extreme to prove his point. Once he starts to kill innocent people, he goes too far. Over the 10 years, Nick has a daughter of his own so he knows the importance of what he did 10 years ago.
Nick was a hot shot lawyer who had a very high percentage rate in convictions. But maybe he should have gone to trial for Clyde instead of making a deal. This could have all been prevented. Clyde is perceived as a very dangerous man who, if he chooses, can kill you in an instant.
Now, it is cool to see Butler back to being a badass, but one thing bothers me about his character. If he is so skilled at killing people and so smart, why didn’t he check to see who was at the door instead of just opening it and letting the burglars break in? I don’t get it.
Anyway, Foxx and Butler do a good job battling each other. Director F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) makes it fun to watch these two guys try and outsmart one another. It reminds me of Fracture with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling, however, Fracture is a little smarter than this movie. This one has violence and explosions. It’s nothing new and should be expected.
Law Abiding Citizen is all about the performances. This movie would not have been as good if Butler and Foxx were not in it. They bring the movie some star power and it helps in the end. Regrettably, There was one person in this movie that was super underutilized. Viola Davis plays the Mayor of Philadelphia, and Davis was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at this past year’s Academy Awards for Doubt. She spent about 10 minutes onscreen, and she not only stood toe to toe with Meryl Streep, but her performance changed the story and the movie. None of that happens here. She does only have about 10 minutes in the movie, but her character could have been played by anyone. That is a shame because she is good. Really good.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
Check out the SoBros Shop. Subscribe to our Patreon. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube.
