PRINTMovie Review: Law Abiding Citizen
Photo Courtesy of Warp Film
October 17, 2009 | 1:00 p.m. CST
Law Abiding Citizen sticks it to the man. The line dividing good and bad gets clouded and the legal system and law is mocked as a hypocritical system in this movie. The plot revolves around Clyde Shelton, played by Gerard Butler, who seeks wrathful vengeance for the murder of his wife and daughter. The hook is that he orchestrates all the murders of all the people involved in the freeing of their killer from his jail cell. The number 1, as Austin Power's would call him, is the district attorney Nick Rice, played by Jamie Foxx, who set the killer free with a plea bargain. Revenge is not enough for Shelton. His goal is to teach the legal system about the true meaning of justice.
The underlying lesson of the movie can be summed up in one quote by Rice: “It’s not about what you know, it’s about what you can prove in court." Shelton plays the legal system like a game of monopoly. His uncanny ability to beat the system, even by following all the rules, turns the legal system on it’s head like a fruit basket turn-over. Government officials drop like flies as Shelton gets catered meals in prison like its no big deal.
Related Links Related MovieRegardless of a few minor holes in the plot, the biggest of which is why Shelton's family was killed, the movie was well executed. It’s so full of suspense that even grandpa couldn’t sleep through this thriller. Stellar performances from Jamie Foxx and Gerald Butler make the dramatic plot believable in this day and age. And you don’t want to miss the clever one-line zingers that provide a little bit of comedic relief from the dodgy subject. Moviegoers must decide which guy to root for: the man that kills to prove that justice according to the law system is bogus, or a man who uses the law system as code, even if the criminal gets off easy.
The cynicism is a little less than subtle at times but never-the-less it’s worth checking out. The sometimes gruesome action and nail-biting suspense hold the audience's attention, and the subject matter will have your brain’s wheels turning for days after the movie ends.
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