Rent Law Abiding Citizen on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Kurt Wimmer
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Regina Hall, Viola Davis, Michael Kelly
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.
Verdict
It's an intriguing thriller, certainly dark and disturbing. For a movie that feels smart, as long as you don't analyze it too closely, and like it has something to say while remaining a fun thrill ride, the conclusion feels like an equal and opposite mistake. This deftly engenders us to root for a criminal. Butler is charismatic in the role, and we know why he goes to these lengths. The justice system is broken, and he's compelled to expose the flaws. The final scene is the movie's muffled whimper that the bad guy shouldn't win, and it's a contradiction to the film we've been watching for two hours. It's easy and dumb. Up to that point the movie hadn't succumbed to such plot contrivances. The ending makes the rest of the movie worse.
It depends.
Review
While rumors circulated that Jamie Foxx demanded his character win in the end, there were various endings to the script by several writers. The movie filmed essentially in narrative order so the final scenes were ever changing. Gerard Butler was a producer and part of the group that decided to switch the characters he and Jamie Foxx's would portray before filming began.
A father playing with his daughter sets us up for what's next; a violent home invasion. Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) watches his wife and daughter killed in an act of completely senseless violence. The state prosecutor for the case, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), is only interested in his conviction rate. He doesn't want to try any cases that might hurt his record. Due to that he agrees to a plea deal for Clyde's case. Nick tells Clyde it's a victory for "us," but we know it's a victory for Nick. He makes a deal with Darby who was the one that perpetuated the violence. Of course Darby lied to save himself and put the other guy on death row. Nick goes home to his family while Clyde goes home to an empty house.
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| Gerard Butler plays Clyde Shelton |
Ten year later and Nick is too busy with his job to spend time with his family. He's attending an execution, the man Darby testified attacked Clyde's family. The execution goes horribly awry to say the least. The movie intercuts the events with Nick's daughter's recital to heighten the impact.
The immediate question, is this Clyde out for revenge? Darby isn't smart enough nor does he have a reason. Clyde seemed like a mild mannered guy, but I suppose ten years imagining revenge will twist a person. Clyde kidnaps Darby. I wondered if his threats were a bluff, but no. Clyde goes all the way and kills Darby.
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| Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb play Nick Rice, Sarah Lowell |
Part of the surprise is that Clyde knew the police would track him down and arrest him. That was part of his plan. During interrogation Clyde waives the right to a lawyer. Nick think he has a confession, but Clyde points out he doesn't. Clyde mentioned how he felt and what he thought, not what he did. Clyde knows what he's doing. He's crusading against the justice system. He agrees to confess for a new bed. Of course Nick makes the deal.
At his bail hearing Clyde chooses to represent himself. He proves he knows the law, citing cases and getting a bail when Nick argued bail should be denied. The judge agrees with Clyde and sets bail, but Clyde excoriates her for being willing to let a man like him go. She holds him in contempt, but he has a point. Clyde is teaching lessons and exploiting how the justice system is willing to make deals with criminals. Clyde agrees to confess to another crime, provided Nick makes yet another deal. Nick fails to live up to his word and gets a painful lesson. As Clyde points out, people need to be held accountable, on both sides of the law.
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| Gerard Butler plays Clyde Shelton |
The thing is, Clyde is a psychopath. We shouldn't like him, but Butler is so charismatic that we root for the guy that's killing government officials as unlikely as that is. Each action is more destructive than the last. Clyde systematically eliminates key figures in the justice system while imprisoned, and no one has a clue how. Nick doesn't care about Clyde's civil rights if he can stop the deaths. He's bending the rules of justice, and that's exactly the point Clyde is making. It does seem outlandish that Clyde sets these different scenarios up and could correctly predict how things would unfold. We shouldn't worry too much about it as it's also part of the fun. The movie writes it off as Clyde being very smart.
The problem with this movie is that Clyde has been ahead the entire movie. The conclusion seems like a fumble on the three yard line. It's an easy cop out where Nick gets the upper hand by accident; some kind of plot contrivance. I suppose the movie didn't want to fully condone Clyde's actions of meting out a form of punishment, but the problem is that the movie had us on Clyde's side the entire time. The movie has been so smart, and this conclusion is too abrupt. Clyde does have a point, and the movie side steps that in the conclusion as it undermines the very message I thought the movie wanted to convey.
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