Law Abiding Citizen - Mini-Review

I finally saw Law Abiding Citizen this weekend and it was the popcorn movie I needed  I'd had a horrible day.  I woke up to a flat tire and of course the husband was away, etc.  I needed a popcorn movie once I got my car back from the shop, and that's just what I got for my $9.50 ticket.  Plus we see this shot of a naked Gerard Butler, which was a nice bonus.

It's never really explained why Gerard gets naked just before he is arrested in the film for the only murder he commits while outside of jail.  I guess it was very obvious he was unarmed!!

We are sympathetic to Gerard's Clyde character from the very beginning of the film when we see two burglers rape and murder his daughter and wife.  Jamie Foxx's prosecutor doesn't want to spoil his 96% successful conviction stats, so he makes a deal which allows one of the murderers to go free.  Clyde just can't understand this, and plots 10 long years for his vengeance, on all of them, and the broken system to boot.  Jamie Foxx and the DA are attending the death row execution of one of the murderers when it goes horribly wrong.  How did Clyde get into that prison?  Then Darby, the other murderer is found dead and chopped up, Saw style.  Clyde has gone from mild mannered tinker, to psychotic killer.  There's a very nice prison confrontation scene between Foxx and Butler here:

Once Clyde has been arrested, more murders keep happening -- everyone who had anything to do with that plea deal murder case.  Your mind keeps wondering who might be his accomplice, and trying to figure out how he can carry out all his nefarious plans.  More and more murders happen in very surprising ways.  Maybe I'm just biased from following Gerry's career for so many years, but while there was suspense, I wasn't frightened of him anything like Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter behind those prison bars.  But there were scenes that surprised me, like the steak scene.  He turns from jovial and pleasant to murderous on a dime.

Yes, the plot becomes somewhat ridiculous, but then Liam Neeson's recent Taken was another popcorn vengeance movie that I enjoyed.  I can tell you that the setup of the film is not so far off.  Having been unfortunately involved in a family tragedy that's stalled in the courts, I find the deal making of Jamie Foxx's lawyer and his protection of his conviction rate all too real.

It's an enjoyable hour and a half at the movies, and has a nice little twist at the end.  Butler has the more showy role as the villain, but Jamie Foxx plays arrogant assitant DA very well.  It was nice seeing Colm Meany as a police detective and Violet Davis as the tough Philly mayor.

This was a passion project for Gerard Butler as it was his first film under his new production company with his manager, Evil Twins.  Despite being savaged by several critics, it's done decently in box office over the last two weekends.  F. Gary Gray had previously directed The Italian Job, another popcorn flick that I really enjoyed.  I give Law Abiding Citizen three stars.