Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Directed by F. Gary Gray
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
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11 films that influenced Law Abiding Citizen
What critics say influenced Law Abiding Citizen
Avid filmgoers, particularly from the baby boomer generation, may recall fondly the late Charles Bronson ("Death Wish"), who often starred in similar movies as a rugged, weather-beaten, tough guy who took the law into his own hands to right a wrong.
Charles Bronson may have passed away but the spirit of his Death Wish films lives on — albeit in an absurdly twisted fashion — in F. Gary Gray’s ( The Italian Job Be Cool ) gleefully over-the-top revenge thriller Law Abiding Citizen .
Take the Charles Bronson “Death Wish” movies, cross them with cable’s “Dexter,” and add just a soupçon of the depraved “Saw” series, and you’ve got a recipe for LAW ABIDING CITIZEN.
However, Bronson aims for and succeeds at showing stylized action, dark humor and surrealism, while Law Abiding Citizen aims for gritty reality along the lines of Death Wish and exploring issues about the justice system, but misses the bullseye by more than a mile.
In combining all those procedural shows with “Saw’’ and “The Silence of the Lambs,’’ the director F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job’’) gets to play with all kinds of weaponry (rockets, automatic machine guns, improvised explosive devices).
There are some stinging verbal exchanges between Clyde and Nick, but they pale in comparison with their likely inspiration, the Hannibal/Clarice interaction in The Silence of the Lambs.
Think of “Law Abiding Citizen” as a reanimated corpse stitched together from the bloody body parts of “Dexter,” “Saw,” “Death Wish” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”
Director F. Gary Gray (2005's " Be Cool ") and scripter Kurt Wimmer (2008's " Street Kings ") show precious little restraint as they tackle a project that tries to cross "The Silence of the Lambs" with "The Shawshank Redemption" while going so far over the deep end that it ends up making a mockery of itself.
The genre was launched with the 1962 Cape Fear (and its John D. MacDonald source novel), whose killer not only tracks down the lawyer who prosecuted him but terrorizes the man's wife and child.
The film wraps a "Grand Theft Auto" world view in weak platitudes about due process.
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(Neil Jordan's The Brave One may be a much more intelligent, reasoned film than, say, Death Wish 3, but which one would you rather watch after a bad day at the office?)
Annie Corley (2006's " Stick It ") deliciously chews up the scenery as the power-happy Judge Laura Burch, exiting the proceedings with a memorable stunner of a scene.
In addition to Butler and the Oscar-winning Foxx, it is astonishing to note that this junk also attracted the Oscar-nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) in a small role as the mayor, Bruce McGill ("The Legend of Bagger Vance," "W.”) as the D.A., Colm Meaney (“The Damned United”) as Detective Dunnigan and “24’s” deliciously evil President Logan (Gregory Itzin) as the prison warden.
Talented actors like Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, and Viola Davis (so powerful in last year's "Doubt") are reduced to serving as cinematic fillers.
In fact, I can think of at least three people in “Law Abiding Citizen” who would have given more interesting performances: Foxx; Colm Meaney, who plays an assistant to Foxx; and Viola Davis from “Doubt,” who plays the entertainingly crabby mayor of Philadelphia.
Viola Davis ("Doubt") makes the biggest impression in the supporting role of the mayor of Philadelphia.
Viola Davis (2008's " Doubt ") exudes power and an underlying sense of unease as the Philadelphia mayor, a woman none too appreciative of her loss of control over her city.
(Neil Jordan's The Brave One may be a much more intelligent, reasoned film than, say, Death Wish 3, but which one would you rather watch after a bad day at the office?)
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Director F. Gary Gray's ("Be Cool") disappointing urban suspense potboiler shares the same unsalted narrative soup as Spike Lee's bone-headed "Inside Man," albeit with a dash of horror copped from the "Saw" franchise.
In combining all those procedural shows with “Saw’’ and “The Silence of the Lambs,’’ the director F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job’’) gets to play with all kinds of weaponry (rockets, automatic machine guns, improvised explosive devices).
He believes that he’s using himself as an indictment of our failed justice system, and the movie — written by Kurt Wimmer (“Ultraviolet”) and directed by F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job”) — seems to agree with him.
F. Gary Gray , slumming after producing some interesting action like Set It Off , The Negotiator , and The Italian Job , starts blatantly abusing his audience from scene one.
Directed by F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job”), the movie at least revels in the preposterous — a daring, rather than boring, variety of awfulness — and keeps the howlers coming.
Director F. Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian Job) keeps splashing the screen with gore so the out-for-blood crowd will lap it up.
Director F. Gary Gray ("The Italian Job") and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer ("Street Kings" and "The Thomas Crown Affair") keep you guessing with a cleverly conceived and well-executed story that is full of twists, turns and booby traps.