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$16.99 - Law Abiding Citizen [Blu-ray]
Product DescriptionClyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), a hotshot young Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Over his objections, Nick is forced by his boss to offer one of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. Fast forward ten years. The man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde Shelton admits his guilt. Then he issues a warning to Nick: Either fix the flawed justice system, or key players in the trial will die. Soon Shelton follows through on his threats, orchestrating from his jail cell a string of spectacularly diabolical assassinations that can be neither predicted nor prevented. Only Nick can stop the killing and finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary who seems always to be one step ahead.
The legal thriller meets the serial-killer shocker in Law Abiding Citizen. The story begins when home invaders kill Clyde Shelton's wife and daughter. The bereaved father (played by a thoroughly unsympathetic Gerard Butler) looks to slick Philly prosecutor Nick Rice (a low-key Jamie Foxx) to see that they receive the maximum sentence. Instead, the murderer, Ames, testifies against his accomplice, Darby, who gets the chair, while he gets 10 years. Upon his release, Ames' mutilated body turns up in an abandoned warehouse, and all roads lead to Shelton. Rice attempts to defend him, but his client makes it impossible--Shelton wants to go to prison--so he does time, but then members of Rice’s legal team start to die. The attorney suspects Shelton, but can't connect him to the crimes, so he races against the clock to save the lives of his assistant, Sarah (Leslie Bibb), D.A. Jonas (Bruce McGill), and his own wife and child. The movie may sound like a Yank reboot of the Japanese chiller Cure, in which an inmate kills from inside institutional walls, but plays more like a mash-up between The Silence of the Lambs, without the psychological complexity, and The Devil's Advocate, without the cynical giggles. F. Gary Gray got his start with hip-hop videos and urban action flicks, like Set It Off, until he hit the big time with his remake of The Italian Job. Law Abiding Citizen is a disappointing muddle from a director who's done better in the past and will surely do better in the future. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Stills from Law Abiding Citizen (Click for larger image)
Most Recent Customer ReviewsDate : 2010-03-11
Summary : Not so great: Tubbs becomes a lawyer and 300 becomes a crazed vigilante
The opening scene in Law Abiding Citizen should have been enough to tell me, this is not going to be a great movie. When the movie opens with bucolic sweet scenes in the lovely suburban house, and there is a knock on the door - don't answer the door! You'd think movie characters would understand that by now. I spoil nothing by telling you that two men bind and gag the wife and husband (Gerard Butler), stab both of them, then one rapes the mother while the daughter stands in the doorway (the rapist says, 'that's OK, kids like me').
So if you can stomach that opening sequence, then this is the perfect movie for you. If, on the other hand, this sounds like a bad idea, please move on and don't rent or purchase this film. Sadly, I forged ahead and watched the entire film. The highlight was somebody being dismembered with a cut off circular saw.
There is a thriller in this movie. The ending sort of does explain the opening, why those two men were at Nick Rice's house. And there are a few interesting twists and turns. But generally this film is about low spots just waiting around for the next bit of gore or action sequence. Butler and Foxx are much better actors than this film.
Clyde Shelton (Jamie Foxx - Tubbs in the Miami Vice movie), is a lawyer prosecuting Nick Rice (Gerard Butler - 300) for a vigilante murder. Clyde is most concerned with his nearly 100% conviction rate, and he won't let that record be spoiled by this crazy Nick guy. At moments the movie feels a little like Hannibal Lecter. But nowhere near that creepy, or intelligent, so Law Abiding Citizen is not nearly as good. I can't put my finger on why, but there is something similar to The Shooter (Shooter (Widescreen Edition)).
This was a big budget film. The camera work, sound, and special effects reflect all that money poured into this lovely film. Yes there is a polish to this work. The director did a really wonderful job with The Italian Job (The Italian Job (Special Collector's Edition)), it seems like F. Gary Gray might be a one hit wonder. This film show little care for pacing.
Oh this is an R rated movie by a long margin. Pick your reason (actually there is no nudity), and it should only be viewed by a mature audience. The film displays graphic sick ways of killing people. To me, not something a younger audience should view.
This was not a good film. To add some context, I am not offended by slasher movies.
Date : 2010-03-11
Summary : REAL GOOD EDGE OF UR SEAT THRILLER!!!
This is a must-see action thriller that has an excellent story that dares to challenge the way we think about our legal system, but beware it is not intended for the squimish at heart considering its violent content (definately not one for the kids since rape, murder, and mutilation are all part of the package). I would agree with the other reviews, which in escence collectively agrees that this movie starts out strong in the beginning, but... it was almost as if they ran out of time towards the end and had to start chopping footage to get it all worked into their 2-hour package. I also felt it concluded to abruptly, elinating the big build-up that should have carried through from start to finish, hence the 4 Star rating as opposed to 5. Gerald Butler's performance was outstanding and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. As for Jamie Fox, this was a good transitioning role for him since once I got past that he was Jamie Fox (a nice reminder that it is still only a movie), I felt he was very believable in the role. In conclusion, it's definately a winner worth seeing for edge of your seat action/thriller
Date : 2010-03-10
Summary : I have no desire to see the unrated cut on Blu-ray
The theatrical cut of this film walked too fine a line between courtroom drama/action mystery and a slasher horror film. Granted, it never went quite far enough to gross me out, but, it came close enough to making me think it was going to .One scene early on almost made me stop watching .Sometimes less is more.
Squeamishness aside, it's a first rate thriller.There are plenty of mysteries to unravel as the "Law Abiding Citizen" enacts his revenge.Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler turn in credible performances.In the hands of a lesser cast ,this script might have gone straight to video.
Recommended with reservations
Date : 2010-03-08
Summary : Sooo..they let a DA blow up a prison?
It was an ok movie overall if you are not squeamish and suspend your disbelief....But still:
Who signs off on a plan to pick up a napalm bomb, drive it across town, sneak it under this man's bed, and then offer him the opportunity to blow it up, taking an entire prison wing with it?! A first-grader would have taken the bomb to an empty field. Considering they had found his hidden exit and weapon's cache, the man was neutralized as a threat. That ending made no sense whatsoever.
Date : 2010-03-08
Summary : Character Driven Revenge Drama
** MINOR SPOILERS ** (nothing you haven't read on the back of the box)
I believe it's going to be difficult to write a review of LAW ABIDING CITIZEN without including spoilers, or giving away some of the plot, but I will attempt to do so.
I went into this movie completely cold, not knowing a thing about it. I hadn't even seen the trailer or read the back of the DVD case. So the beginning five minutes came as a bit of a shock. And the ten or fifteen minutes that followed helped elicit real viewer sympathy for what Gerard Butler's character was going through. His helpless struggle against what seemed to be an ineffective and possibly even corrupt legal system (being represented by Jamie Foxx as Prosecutor, Nick Rice). His sense of loss, and the resulting pain and frustration could have been enough to drive any man over the edge.
But it is about that point in the movie that any viewer sympathy goes flying out the window, and Butler's character of Clyde Shelton begins to take on the role of antagonist to Foxx's Rice. Following a ten year passage of time, Shelton re-emerges from obscurity to exact his revenge. And not just by taking the law into his own hands. He does that, of course, but so much more. His vengeance is directed toward the very core of the legal system itself, and he apparently won't be satisfied until he brings the whole thing down.
It's seemingly quite a startling turnaround for his character, until you learn part way through the movie that perhaps Shelton wasn't as innocent and blameless as originally portrayed. Perhaps he was from a legal standpoint, but from a moral and ethical one, his background certainly comes into question. You find out he is cold, calculating (to the nth degree), and totally, utterly ruthless. And absolutely everything he does serves his ultimate purpose.
I believe that what knocks this movie down a notch or two in my estimation, is that it goes to the nth degree itself, and then takes it several steps further into the realm of the unbelievable. Which makes for great Hollywood trash-film fodder, but ultimately lessens the overall credibility and impact of the film. Still, I enjoyed the movie. It has several 'I can't believe what just happened' scenes that will leave you shaking your head. But overall it ends up missing the mark, despite a well written script full of unexpected twists and turns. What could have been an engrossing psychological cat and mouse game ends up being just another over-the-top, character driven revenge drama. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I expected a little more.
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