Law Abiding Citizen DVD Review
You can own this DVD today
Synopsis: Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), 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 admits his guilt. Then he issues a warning to Nick: Either fix the flawed justice system, 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. Only Nick can stop the killing and finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary who seems always to be one step ahead.
Review: I used to dislike Jamie Foxx. I won't lie about it..I fully admit that I felt he was overrated. I used to watch him on 'In Living Color' and I felt like this foray into the dramatic was absurd, especially considering the music album he did. Laughable. My attitude was changed, however, when I saw a special advanced screening of 'The Soloist' with my wife last year. She's a Robert Downey Jr. sort of gal, so I take her to all of this films. Anyhew, the point being, he has proven his dramatic chops to me ten-fold. I now consider myself a casual fan of his work and I put him on a dramatic level with actors like Denzel Washington, which is saying something. Gerard Butler..I didn't take him very seriously after '300', but he also has proven himself to have some range, although he hasn't made the best choices on all of his projects (ie: Gamer!...ugh.)
Along comes 'Law Abiding Citizen'. The first trailer I see doesn't really interest me, but since I'm flooded with them for a matter of weeks, I do take notice eventually. We popped in this DVD looking to get a typical thriller, but low and behold I was shocked yet again by something more interesting. Butler really gives us his menacing heel face on this one and he does an exquisite job. He's meant to play the bad guy! Although is he really the bad guy? Thats one of the interesting moral dilemas of this film...who do you side with?
I can't reveal much in my review, because I don't want to spoil even one of the twists and turns for you, but suffice to say that this rather picky reviewer was impressed. I highly recommend the film. Go pick it up on DVD, its worth watching more than once!
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars