AAAaaagggghhhhhhh!!! Frustration, frustration, frustration. I love this film and I hate it. And now I’ve got to explain myself. Gerald Butler faces off against Jamie Fox in this action film that promises to have a little bit more of a serious storyline than most action films have. The trailer promises plenty of action, but also a carefully crafted plot that sees Butler’s character (Clyde) thrown in jail for the revenge killing of the two guys to murdered and raped his wife and daughter. Whilst in jail however he plays a very well constructed battle of wits with Foxx’s character, a prosecutor (Nick) who makes deals to see the ‘right’ people put away, and the ‘right’ people walk free.
Clyde’s issue is that Nick let one of the killers walk free, whilst putting the other on death row. It was a deal that Clyde took ten terms to come to terms with – AKA, kill both the perps himself.
Now in prison, Clyde seems to have an almost god-like power in his ability to arrange the death of all those involved in (what he sees as) perverting justice in relation the the death of his wife and child.
Nick is painted as the bad guy from the very beginning, and there is no doubt that he is only doing things for the betterment of his career. Clyde on the other hand is painted as a down to earth family guy, who has a shady special forces deep cover background.
As far as clever plots go, Law Abiding Citizen has one of the best – a killer locked up who is still able to kill his victims seemingly at will, and a politically motivated prosecutor who has more to think about that just his carer.
But then the inevitable happens, the whole film just implodes and turns into a pile of stinking dog poo right at the end. On reflection, you can’t really blame the film, it was was stick between a rock and a hard-place with a story that was never going to end well.
If you approach Law Abiding Citizen as just another action flick, and you don’t connect to the characters or get drawn in too much by the complex story – you’ll enjoy it immensely. If however you are looking for a story with a little bit more substance, the ending ill surely frustrate you. FILMGUIDE rating: Reviewed by: Jonathan Read Release date: July 14th, 2010 Stars: Gerard Butler, Michael Gambon, Leslie Bibb, Jamie Foxx, Josh Stewart, Regina Hall Length (Minutes): 118 Aspect Ratio: 1.78 : 1 Languages: English Supported Audio: Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 Director: Gray, F. Gary Studio: Roadshow
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