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Friday
16Oct2009

Movie Review - 'Law Abiding Citizen'

DateFriday, October 16, 2009 at 1:34AM
Law Abiding Citizen

Starring Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, and Leslie Bibb
Directed by F. Gary Gray
Rated R

lawabidingposter.jpg About a dozen years ago, the British evolutionist Richard Dawkins wrote a book called Climbing Mount Improbable. It has nothing to do with movies, but if Mount Improbable were real, I have no doubt that the new film Law Abiding Citizen would have its flag planted firmly at the summit.

I don't remember the last film I saw that took itself so seriously and presented itself so gravely and at the same time is so monumentally unlikely. Somehow, though, you could make the case that Law Abiding Citizen works, perhaps in spite of itself.

Movies like Pacific Heights and Arlington Road are a lot like this one, films dependent on a ridiculous chain of circumstances for absolutely anything to move forward. Roger Ebert's dissection of Arlington Road is a favorite of mine precisely because he introduces a logical skepticism to the film's third act, and when you do that, the whole damn mess falls apart instantly.

That doesn't mean these movies can't be fun - although that's certainly not true with Pacific Heights - and director F. Gary Gray actually makes a pretty entertaining guilty pleasure out of spare parts from Saw and Law and Order - Saw and Order, if you will - dressed up like a better 88 Minutes or another game-is-already-set-in-motion flick.

In this case, Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) witnessed the murder of his wife and daughter only to later witness a crime of another sort: Through a plea bargain, the man who committed the killings gave up another suspect in return for a reduced sentence. Three years later, the man who killed Clyde's family walked, thanks to the backroom dealings of an Assistant D.A. on the rise (Jamie Foxx).

The system, Clyde reckons, is broken. So rather than get revenge, Clyde plots the most elaborate scheme you could imagine, but even then only if you have a remarkably vivid imagination. The word "labyrinthine" comes to mind, because in order for Clyde's plan to work, he has to get himself thrown into prison, then into solitary confinement, where he'll engineer strategies to systematically take out the people responsible for the earlier miscarriage of justice.

Some of the fun of this film is watching these preposterous plans unfold. Gray gets mileage out of both the predictable events and the quick surprises. Gerard Butler is pretty good, too, although the mad genius thing is taken a little too far.

I can't say I liked Jamie Foxx, though. The performance is supposed to be a little off-putting at first, because from your theater chair, you're made to root for Gerard Butler. But at a certain point, when Foxx has the bulls-eye on his back, your allegiance is supposed to shift. It doesn't. And I don't know what they could do differently, other than not make Foxx a selfish, upwardly mobile lawyer, to correct that.

But if you don't take anything you see seriously, there's some fun to be had here. That squashes whatever potential message this might be trying to convey, and that's no great loss.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

saw this a few weeks ago. viewing the film from the 'of course this is silly, but, i'm going with it' standpoint, it was entertaining... until the last few minutes.

lamest ending, almost ever.

i was hoping butler would win, to be honest.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterquin browne

WE SAW THIS MOVIE THOUGHT IT WAS EXCELENT - SPECIFICLY THE PART WHERE ACTOR DAVID VILLALOBOS APPEARED WE WERE VERY IMPRESSED WITH HIS ACTING SKILLS AND WE HOPE THIS MOVIE WILL LEAD TO BIGGER ROLES FOR HIM IN THE FUTURE.

Thursday, December 3, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterRAY AND PATTY KOERNER

Seen this movie last week. Wasn't worth the money. The movie failed to give you any connection with the characters, as per the review, Jamie Fox character wasn't likeable neither was Gerards - plot wasn't believable either!
Go see Avatar again .... now that was entertaining!

Thursday, February 4, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterlozza

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