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Law Abiding Citizen

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 33 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: Kurt Wimmer
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 16, 2009
Running Time: minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong bloody brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape, and pervasive language
Starring Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb, Michael Irby, Regina Hall, and Viola Davis
Clyde Shelton is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice, a hotshot young Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Over his objections, Nick is forced by his boss to offer one of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. Fast forward ten years. The man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde Shelton coolly admits his guilt. Then he issues a warning to Nick: Either fix the flawed justice system that failed his family, or key players in the trial will die. Soon Shelton follows through on his threats, orchestrating from his jail cell a string of spectacularly diabolical assassinations that can be neither predicted nor prevented. Philadelphia is gripped with fear as Shelton's high-profile targets are slain one after another and the authorities are powerless to halt his reign of terror. Only Nick can stop the killing, and to do so he must outwit this brilliant sociopath in a harrowing contest of wills in which even the smallest misstep means death. With his own family now in Shelton's crosshairs, Nick finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary who seems always to be one step ahead. (Overture Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
One of those movies you like more at the time than in retrospect.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
The script does create sufficient tension and intrigue to hook viewers along with a photogenic, hardworking cast.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
That the film, directed in swift strokes by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay credited to Kurt Wimmer, doesn't really work - unrelentingly grim, unintentionally funny - is almost beside the point. It's a wild concept.
Read Full Review >Variety Justin Chang
True torture-porn aficionados will be disappointed, as editor Tariq Anwar cuts away right before blade meets flesh -- a move that feels a tad, well, gutless under the circumstances. But elsewhere, "Citizen" proves startlingly graphic, even by R-rated standards.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Deep within Law Abiding Citizen lurks a thought-provoking movie. But most of what we see on the screen is implausible, superficial and only marginally involving.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The payback in Law Abiding Citizen doesn't have a cathartic kick, because the revenge is so extreme it's horrifying.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The biggest problem with Law Abiding Citizen, however, is that the plot is just plain dumb.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
LawAbiding Citizen smells a bit musty these days. Indeed, in an era when the debate has shifted from too little state vigilance to too damn much, this thing seems almost quaint.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
The movie starts out as a potboiler with a troubling character arc; unfortunately, it ends up becoming a goofy, story-overwhelming Rube Goldberg contraption that would make the producers of the "Saw" series blush.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Clyde is meant to be nuts, but too often it's Law Abiding Citizen that checks rationality at the door.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Law Abiding Citizen, ultimately and inappropriately, tips the scales in favor of the Man over mankind. Somebody call Charles Bronson.
Read Full Review >NPR Mark Jenkins
We're supposed to be awed, but a more reasonable response is to giggle. How does a Kevlar tie kill? And if it can, why hasn't the CIA sent a Kevlar scarf to Osama bin Laden?
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Glenn Whipp
The film's greatest sin isn't its cynical moral posturing but its complete failure to engage audiences on even a visceral level.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Jeez, did the "surprise" climax have to be this eye-rollingly stupid?
Read Full Review >Washington Post Dan Kois
A movie devoted to baroque revenge would be, on its own terms, acceptable; what makes Law Abiding Citizen so risible is its humorless conviction that it's got Big Ideas at its core.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Wears its preposterousness with a certain pride. It’s about the cat-and-mouse game between two very smart guys, and it’s perfectly happy to be as dumb as it wants.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Such a lazy action-drama underachiever, it seems unfair to target stars Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler for bringing their C game.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
If the filmmakers meant a word of it, they'd quit making films and do something more useful. "Saw" with a conscience is not what the world needs.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen
Generally I don’t mind a little recreational fascism as long as it’s deep-fried in savory violent vengeance, but this overwrought mess gives vigilantism a bad name.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Butler has the showier part, but his impersonation of the tragic hero is undercut by his weird resemblance to Soupy Sales. You start hoping that Shelton will kill somebody with a custard (or puffer-fish) pie to the face.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Amy Biancolli
Vigilante movies hold a firm place in cinematic history, but for them to work, the vigilante needs to be a sympathetic anti-hero.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
A flagrantly ridiculous thriller that tries to retrofit "Saw" to function as a mainstream, semi-respectable vigilante picture
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Like a lot of action-movie directors, Gray lacks the imagination to view the art of cat-and-mouse as more than a chance to play with state-of-the-art war technology.
Read Full Review >St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams
A vigilante/torture-porn potpourri, is particularly toxic because it's scented with phony importance.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
At last, the missing link be tween "Phantom of the Opera" and "Saw." Welcome to the gonzo revenge saga Law Abiding Citizen.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Veronica M gave it a9:
Gets a 9 because it's a little too long.
Priscilla G. gave it a1:
Just finished watching it. This is the kind of testosterone festival that makes troglodytes cry "YEAH!" Synopsis: Stock characters follow predictable plot devices and present the fantasy of limitless financial resources as "cunning intellect".
N1Acord03 gave it a10:
This movie by all accounts is the movie of the year. I am flabbergasted at the critique's take on this film. What movie did they see?
Seku G. gave it an8:
Gerard Butler plays an insanely intelligent assassin focused on biblical scale of retribution. Teaching his deadly lessons, bringing the city of Philadelphia face to face with its past deeds and dealings. “Revenge as Christopher Walken put it, is a meal best served cold.” Cinematography/Directing: Nice panning views of the Philly. End scene masterfully shot. Rest of movie pretty standard views and shot angles. Cutting back and forth between Jamie Foxx daughter recital and brutal GB hack killing was both creative and moving Acting: Jamie Foxx was his usual self. Decent. Solid. Gerard Butler really portrayed great emotional elasticity for this role. Worst Acting Scene: Jamie Fox, in beginning of movie, attempting to get GB to take deal. Gerard was great, Jamie seemed contrived - not real Best Acting Scene: Same scene. GB was so believable, pleading with Jamie Fox to not take deal and fight for his family. His slight lazy eye made him that much more sympathetic. Writing: Great comic quips throughout movie. The overall story held together well. Plot Holes: Last 15 minutes, was like O.K. lets finish this up. GB was a step ahead the entire movie and by some miraculousness feet of Star Trek like beaming, something got somewhere in a time frame not possible. Don’t want to give away the end, but suffice to say. No Way Possible. Better Actor in Role: Denzel would have killed this ala Man on Fire. They should have hired my girl Shambala Green (Lorraine Toussaint) from Law and Order to play the mayor.
Neiko A. gave it a10:
Great story with good plot and a theme that can be correlated to real life. Phenomenal performance by Gerard Butler.
Colin B. gave it an8:
Sweet movie. Great plot. I was in to it.
James H. gave it a4:
[***SPOILER***]LAC started off VERY promising but somewhere along the line the plot began forming holes that were never filled. It first painted Jamie's character to be more involved with the death of Butler's family than he turned out to be. Leaning in to talk to the murderer at the court room, shaking his hand afterwards. Idk if real lawyers actually do that. It starts with Butler being the protaganist but he quickly becomes the badguy. It wasn't the best plot or the best way for the movie to end. It was brilliant how he pulled off the murders but it definetly ended the wrong way. Butler should have been the smart, crazy, good guy. Jamie should have been the evil masteind trying to further his career. Plus 10 years to hold a grudge is a little too extreme and that was my first flag. It should have been maybe 1 yr or 2 @ the most. The movie should have also set up who Butler really was by showing pictures of his military background and then showing his family instead of just "dumping" his surprised past on us.
