Law Abiding Citizen

Written by Kurt Wimmer, Law Abiding Citizen is an intense movie of redemption. It involves mystery, horror and action. Viewers are taken on a roller coaster ride through the life of Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler). Clyde takes it upon himself to teach justice after the justice system fails to do so.

The movie opens up with Clyde, his wife and his daughter. Two robbers break into his house and kill his family as he lays tied up and helpless. After the opening scene we meet Philadelphia prosecutor, Nick Rice (Jaime Foxx) who helps Clyde get "justice" for the death of his family. However, when only one robber, Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte) agrees to testify against the other, Darby is only given three years in jail while the other is given the death sentence. Clyde does not handle this settlement lightly. He describes the justice system as "fucked up." Clyde is distraught, he lost everything he loved in life. All he wanted was the robbers killed for what they did to him and his family, but because Nick made a deal with a murderer there was nothing Clyde could do.

Ten years go by and it is time for the robbers death trial, after the lethal injections are set in the robber is in agony pain, all his veins pop out of his body and he is killed. Lethal injections are made to be painless, Nick is on top of this case and knows someone planned this awful death. He first points his finger at Darby. The police think Darby got away but little do they know it was Clyde who caused the painful lethal injections and who now has Darby kidnapped in a warehouse. Clyde proceeds to rip Darby open while he is lying helpless and alive on a table. This was Clyde's revenge for his families death.

Afterwards, Clyde is placed into jail. He brings Nick and his co-workers on a wild goose chase throughout the rest of the movie. They believed that Clyde was just a normal guy who was mourning the death of his loved ones, but soon come to realize he is an ex-spy whose specialty was low-impact kinetic operations. There are more deaths, more action and extraordinary amounts of intensity. Clyde's only purpose is to make a point of how fucked up the justice system is. He questions what ever happened to right and wrong, why should murderer's be let out on the streets when they are so obviously guilty.

The acting throughout this movie is remarkably believable. Especially Gerard Butler, who really had to train his mind to look, act, and think like a murdering spy. In the beginning of the movie he starts off with sad emotions, by the end of the movie he just has blank stares of seeking revenge. The LA Times says,"Gerard Butler is crazy for 'Law Abiding Citizen': This is the Hannibal Lecter role." I believe the comparison of Clyde to Hannibal is perfect, even down to the caged in jail cell where Clyde is served steak and steamed vegetables after a bargain with the police.

I highly recommend seeing this movie. Your brain won't stop trying to figure out the mysteries. Check out the trailer below.