My Review: Law Abiding Citizen (6/10)

¨It's not what you know. It's what you can prove in court.¨

Law Abiding Citizen might not be a movie that will remain in your head for a long time, but it is an entertaining thriller that will have your complete attention for two hours and keep you in suspense. It isn`t one of those memorable movies which will blow your mind with a clever ending, but it is good enough to enjoy and have a good time without taking the movie too seriously. Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian Job, A Man Apart) directed this crime thriller which was written by Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, The Recruit) and it does have some flaws, but the movie maintains some degree of suspense in order to keep you interested. The ending might be a little beyond belief, but the buildup was worth my ticket price. The two lead roles were also great: Gerald Butler and Jamie Foxx do a great job in making these characters interesting. Butler is much better in these action movies then he is in romantic comedies so it was good to see him doing what he does best again.

The movie takes place in Philadelphia and in the opening scene a pair of criminals enter Clyde Shelton´s (Gerald Butler) home stab him and brutally rape and murder his wife and daughter. Clyde is devastated by what is happened and he wants these men to pay the price. Unfortunately the District Assistant attorney, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), can´t gather enough evidence to put both men behind bars and makes a deal with one of the criminals. Clyde insists that they shouldn`t make a deal with these criminals and at least try to convince the jury in order to give them the death sentence, but Rice is too concerned about his highly successful convict prison sentencing rate and goes for the sure win. Clyde is unhappy with the decision and decides to take matters into his own hands. He happens to be a successful inventor and a specialist in finding ways to kill people without having to pull the trigger. Ten years later Clyde begins to act upon his carefully thought out plan and kills the criminal that was set free. His vengeance is not only taken on the criminal, but on the entire justice system that has become corrupted so he decides to take on everyone involved in the case from the lawyers to the judges and even the mayor of Philadelphia. Clyde pleads guilty for killing the criminal and executes his well thought out plan from inside the prison cell. Rice has to work against the clock in order to discover who is helping Clyde as the body count keeps on pilling up.

What separates this movie from other revenge films is the fact that the well thought out vengeance plan is executed from inside the prison cell. Clyde has already been sentenced, but he continues to execute his plan and he seems to have an accomplice in the outside and this is what builds up the suspense in the viewers as we try to discover how he manages to do all this. The ending may not be very plausible but the thrill and suspense that the director has managed to create during most of the movie makes up for it. I really didn`t see the ending coming and have to admit the idea was pretty original although it does have several flaws as well so I can`t say it was great. Law Abiding Citizen works as an entertaining thriller thanks to the performance from Foxx and Butler and the relationship they build together as the case builds on. It is hard not to sympathize with Butler`s character even though you know that what he is doing is wrong and it is this moral dilemma that keeps your attention in the movie. This movie is far from being memorable, but it is still entertaining and will keep you hooked for two hours. 

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