In short; don't piss off Gerard Butler. He'll go all 'Sparta' on you.
Law Abiding Citizen
starring Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Regina Hall
directed by F. Gary Gray
I love a good thriller. No, I don’t mean some lame excuse for an action/mystery film; I mean a good old fashioned, edge of your seat, really keep you guessing thriller. Director F. Gary Gray put on the daddy pants for Law Abiding Citizen. Take one part The Jackal, one part Basic Instinct(minus gratuitous nudity), and smear the top with one part Saw. The end result is perhaps this year’s most worthy and genuine, however flawed, thriller flick.
Within minutes of meeting Clyde Shelton (Butler) on the screen, his wife and daughter are slaughtered in a home invasion. The criminals are caught, but one opts to plea-bargain against the other for a lighter crime, smaller jail sentence. Shelton doesn’t want to take the deal, but assistant D.A. Nick Rice (Foxx) simply states “Some justice is better than no justice” and takes the deal. It’s implied he is more worried that his win/loss ratio will take a hit than really try the two criminals fully. Fast forward ten years. The criminal that was on death row is executed, but something goes horribly wrong and he dies violently. The next day, the criminal that got off light is found chopped up in an abandoned warehouse. Shelton is arrested, but there is more going on than meets the eye. Not only can Rice not pin any action to Shelton, people keep dying. It becomes apparent that Shelton is set to make his own justice, and that he is much, much more than a law abiding citizen.
You’ve got to hand it to Gray; he really knows his thriller flicks. Look at his record; The Negotiator is one of my favorite cop/conspiracy movies. The remake of the Italian Job was a solid edge of seat action roller coaster. Now, true, he messed up in 2005 with Be Cool, but he certainly came back with a winner in Law Abiding Citizen. The story totally keeps you guessing; you’re constantly guessing about who Shelton has targeted next, and just how is he pulling all of this off while locked in a jail cell? The suspense is substantial, and masterfully directed through and through. How many movies do you go see where there is no clear good guy and no clear bad guy, just people trying to make order out of a series of unfortunate wrongs? Its up you, audience, just who you will root for in this movie. And that’s the beauty of it.
There’s nothing special in the acting category, but its worth mentioning that Gerard Butler is fast becoming the new Bruce Willis of action and thriller. Think I’m jumping the gun a little? Wait for Gerard to land a good trilogy role like Die Hardand he’ll have caught up with tha Bruce for how early it is in his career. And Jamie Foxx is always a pleasure. Comedian, turned singer, turned actor. He puts heart and soul into every character he plays, no matter the role, and he brings something to the screen that is so often forgotten by lesser actors; sincerity. Sincerity, no matter how large or insignificant the role happens to be.
Now, why not perfect? Hasty plot construction. If Shelton is as super genius as we are lead to believe he is, then he thought out every angle. Therefore (and without giving anything away) the ending is a bit simple and too straight forward. I’ll leave it at that. The movie is one heck of a build up, and it even comes close to fully delivering in the end, but it falls just short. Just.
Definitely worth the price of admission. If you see no other psuedo-action movie this winter, go see Law Abiding Citizen. It’ll make you think; not only about what’s going to happen next, but about some of the less pretty flaws in our lauded criminal justice system. You’ll find yourself looking at things from the perspective of a trial lawyer, and you’ll also find yourself looking through the eyes of a hurt yet madly driven man; both will leave you quite disturbed. Which, when it comes down to it, is exactly what any good thriller should do. In short folks, its a good one.
Not Quite Law-Abiding, Mr. Butler.
In short; don't piss off Gerard Butler. He'll go all 'Sparta' on you.
Law Abiding Citizen
starring Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Regina Hall
directed by F. Gary Gray
I love a good thriller. No, I don’t mean some lame excuse for an action/mystery film; I mean a good old fashioned, edge of your seat, really keep you guessing thriller. Director F. Gary Gray put on the daddy pants for Law Abiding Citizen. Take one part The Jackal, one part Basic Instinct(minus gratuitous nudity), and smear the top with one part Saw. The end result is perhaps this year’s most worthy and genuine, however flawed, thriller flick.
Within minutes of meeting Clyde Shelton (Butler) on the screen, his wife and daughter are slaughtered in a home invasion. The criminals are caught, but one opts to plea-bargain against the other for a lighter crime, smaller jail sentence. Shelton doesn’t want to take the deal, but assistant D.A. Nick Rice (Foxx) simply states “Some justice is better than no justice” and takes the deal. It’s implied he is more worried that his win/loss ratio will take a hit than really try the two criminals fully. Fast forward ten years. The criminal that was on death row is executed, but something goes horribly wrong and he dies violently. The next day, the criminal that got off light is found chopped up in an abandoned warehouse. Shelton is arrested, but there is more going on than meets the eye. Not only can Rice not pin any action to Shelton, people keep dying. It becomes apparent that Shelton is set to make his own justice, and that he is much, much more than a law abiding citizen.
You’ve got to hand it to Gray; he really knows his thriller flicks. Look at his record; The Negotiator is one of my favorite cop/conspiracy movies. The remake of the Italian Job was a solid edge of seat action roller coaster. Now, true, he messed up in 2005 with Be Cool, but he certainly came back with a winner in Law Abiding Citizen. The story totally keeps you guessing; you’re constantly guessing about who Shelton has targeted next, and just how is he pulling all of this off while locked in a jail cell? The suspense is substantial, and masterfully directed through and through. How many movies do you go see where there is no clear good guy and no clear bad guy, just people trying to make order out of a series of unfortunate wrongs? Its up you, audience, just who you will root for in this movie. And that’s the beauty of it.
There’s nothing special in the acting category, but its worth mentioning that Gerard Butler is fast becoming the new Bruce Willis of action and thriller. Think I’m jumping the gun a little? Wait for Gerard to land a good trilogy role like Die Hardand he’ll have caught up with tha Bruce for how early it is in his career. And Jamie Foxx is always a pleasure. Comedian, turned singer, turned actor. He puts heart and soul into every character he plays, no matter the role, and he brings something to the screen that is so often forgotten by lesser actors; sincerity. Sincerity, no matter how large or insignificant the role happens to be.
Now, why not perfect? Hasty plot construction. If Shelton is as super genius as we are lead to believe he is, then he thought out every angle. Therefore (and without giving anything away) the ending is a bit simple and too straight forward. I’ll leave it at that. The movie is one heck of a build up, and it even comes close to fully delivering in the end, but it falls just short. Just.
Definitely worth the price of admission. If you see no other psuedo-action movie this winter, go see Law Abiding Citizen. It’ll make you think; not only about what’s going to happen next, but about some of the less pretty flaws in our lauded criminal justice system. You’ll find yourself looking at things from the perspective of a trial lawyer, and you’ll also find yourself looking through the eyes of a hurt yet madly driven man; both will leave you quite disturbed. Which, when it comes down to it, is exactly what any good thriller should do. In short folks, its a good one.