Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

When it’s a boring weekend evening and you want a bit of adrenaline rush, all you need is to pick up a good suspense/thriller and let the fun begin. Unfortunately, while there are no things more exhilarating as a good thriller, there is surely nothing more frustrating as a good one gone bad. At the very onset, let me warn you, “Law Abiding Citizen” (LAC) falls totally into the latter category.

If you have seen the trailers of the movie, you pretty much know the entire plot. Gerard Butler plays Clyde Shelton whose family is gruesomely murdered in front of his eyes by two goons. While they both are arrested, the faulty judicial system ensures that the main culprit walks away while the sidekick gets the death penalty. Playing devil’s advocate is Jamie Foxx as Nick Rice, who as Clyde says “makes a deal with the murderers”. The anguished father of course can do nothing against the system and has to watch helplessly as his pleas are cut short. Nick’s defense being that some justice is better than no justice at all! Things shift ten years down the line when the father decided to take on the system and methodically bumps off the culprits before being arrested. What follows is his sequential killing off of everyone that was involved in the case, all that happening while he is still in jail.

While the plot is as wafer-thin as I just described, the thrill factor is not. From the moment Clyde is arrested, the script follows a taut sequence of one method-killing after another. And as further details about Clyde’s past divulge itself, the killings only get bigger as spectacles keeping you at the edge of your seats. While LAC is no comment on the judicial system, it does take aid of the faults to move things forward. Clyde’s bail sequence is a real fun to watch in that respect! The suspense regarding how Clyde is able to do all the killings is also maintained pretty well throughout the major part of the movie.

But as I said before, LAC is a big letdown in several departments. Acting wise Gerard Butler is great as always. There are moments where he has to shift gears from carefree nonchalance to scary insolence and he does it with commanding ease. But that’s it for the acting department as rest of the whole setup just seems to be sleepwalking through their role. Jamie Foxx is plain and simple bad as the lawyer who has to predict the next move while maintaining his own safety. It could have been a gripping cat and mouse game between the lead protagonists but Foxx’s acting and the script never lifts their duel to the next level. And finally, the big letdown is the final act. Stop just fifteen minutes before the ending and run off to wherever you want . Then cook up whatever ending you imagined and it surely would still not be as absurd as what the director has to offer. It’s abrupt, preposterous and doesn’t explain some very important plot points.

In short, in spite of being an enjoyable fare, LAC leaves such a bad aftertaste that it would be really impossible to suggest it to someone. Watch it at your own risk!

RATING: **1/2 (out of 5)