It's not what you know. It's what you can prove in court. (Law Abiding Citizen 2009)

274.

Law Abiding Citizen

9/10

Back on to the Gerard Butler train for my 'L' movie but chuck in some Jamie Foxx and we have a movie that I've been waiting to get around to for a while. When telling people that this was on my list, they said it would be one of the better ones and others told me to watch out for the twists. From a short synopsis and excited friends, this story was regarding a guy taking the law into his own hands after being let down by the corrupt justice system. I'm actually excited by this one and it's going to get my full attention. 

The storyline begins at Clyde Shelton's house where he is working on contraptions whilst his daughter looks on and the wife cooks dinner.s Minutes later, there is a home invasion when he is knocked off his feet with a baseball bat and stabbed in the torso. He wife gets the knife too until there is an uncomfortable rape scene as their young daughter walks in before she is lead off by an invader. We flip to a scene in the solicitor's office where a distraught Clyde, played by Butler, is in a meeting with Foxx's character who is Nick Rice, the lead investigator on the case. He breaks the news that the lead invader is willing to give evidence to avoid the full sentence whereas the lesser invader, who everything is going to be framed on, will be sentenced to death. Shortly after the court case, the invader shakes the hand of Rice outside the court for the press to see whilst further in the background, an onlooking Clyde is far from happy. 

This is now the moment the story turns Clyde becomes our villain of the story and my interest increases. Every time I see Butler in a movie, he's there to save someone or even the planet. This is going to be a great change of pace. This is going to be a quick middle explanation as Clyde now uses a mixture of disguises and his own inventions to firstly kill his invader and send the video to Rice and his family and then turns on the people involved in the case. Even though the police attention turns to him, he cleverly words his answers in a way which doesn't incriminate himself. At the same time, a judge and lawyer die so Rice is distracted with who would be next.

 In the end, Clyde admits to the kills but this isn't the end of the story, not by a long shot. After being taken to prison, the killings continue and it gets personal for Rice as he starts to lose friends. He figures there has to be someone helping Clyde with the kills and suddenly my mind begins to race. We have a detective on the case who is a little quiet and grumpy, sometimes making eye contact with Clyde. Then we have a female junior detective who is, at one point, constantly looking at her watch and seems a little distracted but once they all die in multiple car explosions, my mind is blown too. 

There are only two more that Clyde is going after. These would be Rice, who people figure would be last as he is pretty much being made to watch and the other being the Mayor. Back in prison, Clyde is put into solitary for killing his cellmate but this is exactly where he wants to be. After some detective work and finding a lot of properties that Clyde has recently bought, one was right by the prison. Rice and his partner inspect and discover a tunnel that leads all of the way to a little workshop and a hatch into Clyde's cell. One issue, Clyde isn't home. Instead, he is out and about, ready to plant a bomb beneath the room where the Mayor is having a massive meeting about locking down the city until everything is under control. Clyde has been helping himself out and there wasn't an accomplice to the kills. Rice makes it to the bomb in time but the audience is fooled a little by the timeline. As Clyde makes it back to his cell, Rice walks out of the shadows. This doesn't stop Clyde pressing the button but it begins the countdown to the bomb that Rice has now put under his bed. Rice leaves, locking the hatch and leaving Clyde to his demise. The movie ends with Detective Rice watching his daughter in her school recital. Something he had put off whilst tied up in his work. 

I think the movie lived up to the hype that my friends had given it. Several aspects interested me throughout the movie which included the fact that this was a crime thriller in which the twists and plot turns could rival any. I found myself enjoying the movie a lot more watching Gerard Butler play the villain in this movie but somehow, a man that you could understand and maybe even sympathise with. Halfway through the movie, once they announced that there may be an accomplice to the crimes, I was on edge, suspecting everyone whilst never seeing the twist that was to come from the ending. For me, this is the sign of a great storyline as I like to think I'm aware of where a story may be going and who is involved. Sometimes I have an issue with a storyline this good and if the movie has the 'rewatchability' factor. Not that that's even a word but from where I'm standing, I would definitely go back and watch this, even knowing the twists. 

The successes of the movie then transfer into the cast members. I've already mentioned Butler and his role but I'm more than willing to mention it again. As a villain, this guy had the role nailed down and I much preferred seeing him playing Clyde than some guy in space in a storyline as far fetched as shit from China. There was a confidence of the killer and righteousness about what he was doing that could draw in the audience enough for them to understand his cause. Jamie Foxx, the main Detective on the case, seemed to have a sort of character arch which is well worth exploring. Going from a guy who was happy to follow the best deal of the court and simply doing his job to someone who things were made much more personal for. Once his family and friends came into the mix, his attitude changed and by the end, it's safe to say he didn't follow procedure. The role was portrayed really well by Foxx who went from calm and collected to somewhat desperate towards the end. This then ended with a sense of acceptance in his actions and maybe even a struggle with his conscience as to whether his actions were justified. I was even impressed with the little side roles by the end of the movie. With each facial expression and action, I truly believed that any of them could have been an accomplice to the murders.

It seems that this type of movie has become a lost art recently and I can't recall seeing a movie of this type in the cinema for a long time. Everything right now is relying on special effects, superheroes or remakes to sell tickets. This relied on a great storyline being told and the audience sitting and taking it in. This makes it even more effective as how little it takes to make the movie a huge success. I'm disappointed in myself for waiting so long to get around to watching the film and I need to track down some more within this crime/action genre. I would highly recommend anyone given this movie their full attention and although at times it can look a little dated, that only adds to the grittiness of the storyline.