Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Director F. Gary Gray—the guy behind the killer thriller "The Negotiator" and the massive hit "The Italian Job," though he did waste time on an unnecessary remake of that '69 classic—is finally back. After a four-year hiatus since "Be Cool" in 2005, he's dropping "Law Abiding Citizen." It’s an action thriller centered on a guy whose family's killers walk free thanks to a botched trial. He decides to take matters into his own hands with some seriously calculated, genius-level revenge, targeting not just the killers, but everyone involved in the legal mess—judges, lawyers, prosecutors—basically turning himself from the victim into the villain.
The script comes from Kurt Wimmer, who gave us the great "Equilibrium" but also that absolute disaster "Ultraviolet." Leading the charge are Gerard Butler, who’s everywhere lately, and Jamie Foxx. They’re backed by a solid cast including Michael Gambon, Leslie Bibb, Josh Stewart, Regina Hall, Bruce McGill, Christian Stolte, Viola Davis, Colm Meaney, and Michael Kelly. The budget sits at $40M, with a US release set for mid-October this year. International audiences will have to wait until early 2010.



IMDB

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PLOT

Law Abiding Citizen is a thriller about a brilliant sociopath who orchestrates a series of high-profile murders that grip the city of Philadelphia - all from inside his jail cell - and the prosecutor assigned to his case who realizes he is the only one who can end the reign of terror.

IMAGES

Judging by the trailer and the overall vibe, this looks like it'll be worth the wait.
It’s actually nice to see Butler back in a genre he clearly excels at, rather than being stuck in those silly comedies like
The Ugly Truth or P.S. I Love You.🙂I'll definitely be heading to the theater once this hits the big screen.

Absolute banger of a trailer 👍
It’s definitely going to be worth the watch 🙂

A few of my ideas remind me of Ricochet (1991)

It’s going to be Law Abiding Citizen clips

A short clip from the movie just surfaced on IMDb. 18+ (explicit violence)

Here are a few more clips from the movie... though none of them hit quite as hard as the one above.

Law Abiding Citizen clips : Where's Reynolds
Law Abiding Citizen clips : Under Control
Law Abiding Citizen clips : The Mayor's plan
Law Abiding Citizen clips : What You Can Prove in Court
Law Abiding Citizen clips : How's chip
Law Abiding Citizen clips : get som Rest Law Abiding Citizen clips
Law Abiding Citizen clips : get down
Law Abiding Citizen clips : Biblical

Here's one of the first reviews out, calling it a pretty decent thriller...

Review : Law Abiding Citizen Quote : Overall

Overall, it’s a pretty killer thriller, though you definitely have to switch your brain off a bit to really lean into it.
Basically, think Death Wish meets Saw, but with a John Grisham twist. If that combo sounds like your kind of thing, you'll probably dig it—I know I did. It might not pass a logic test, but as far as entertaining thrillers go, it holds its own.

RATING: 7.5/10

That lethal injection setup looks way too massive for a human; it’s built for a horse. Total fake.

Why on earth would that guy—the one who managed to slip away—start spraying bullets at the police from the roof and basically broadcast his exact location like that? It's fake.

And why would he suddenly forget he was out of ammo, especially after finding that out just five minutes earlier? Fake.

When they first showed up to arrest the butler... why did it take five police cruisers, a SWAT team, and a helicopter? He was just a suspect at that point. Fake.

If there are any tech geeks in here, please explain to me how a flip phone is supposed to be able to fire a shot? Fake.

How was the butler supposed to know they were delivering a steak with a bone sharp enough to kill someone?

Alex Long8 said:It’s going to be Law Abiding Citizen clips

And it absolutely is!!!

🙏🙏🙏

Sure, there are some hiccups here and there—just like any other movie—but honestly, they don't really mess with the big picture for me.
It’s an engaging, fun ride that keeps you hooked until the credits roll, plus Butler was spot-on as Clyde.

8/10

Honestly, I dug this movie—really liked it overall. The story hits, and the characters actually make sense—you get why they’re doing what they’re doing. My only real gripe? It lacked that psychological tension toward the end that it really needed... such a missed opportunity. But all in all, definitely worth a watch, maybe even twice. 😉 7.8/10

Definitely adding this one to my watchlist... plus, you can't really go wrong when you've got Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx teaming up—at least not with this kind of movie.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie; while there are a few gripes, it’s an alright watch with a compelling plot.
The ending was the one thing that truly let me down.

From the moment they discover his hideout, everything moves way too fast. I spent the whole time rooting for Gerard Butler, so the conclusion was a massive disappointment—and honestly, I wish Nick (Jamie Foxx) hadn't survived!

I'm planning on catching it this Wednesday. That trailer totally blew me away! 👍

The movie’s actually pretty decent, so I’m throwing a solid 6 or 7 out of 10 at it.
There are some fresh bits that make it worth sitting through—like that whole prison tunneling sequence, which was pretty wild, haha. But man, that ending... it felt so Hollywood. It totally kills the gritty vibe the movie was building, even if it works for the big studios who love their predictable little fantasies about how good always wins in such a flashy way.😛(Like that part at the end where Fox Corporation's guy walks out of prison, and the explosion doesn't even faze him, let alone making you worry about whether Gerard Butler is dead or not)

IgorVG said:Exactly...

I’m with everyone here.
They made it look like Nick was genuinely bothered by having a criminal walking free, but when his assistant asked if they messed up, he flat out insisted they didn't. Well, obviously you screwed up! He knew it all along; he was just banking on a high conviction rate!

I also agree about the briefcase subplot. Everything is planned to perfection only for it to fall apart at the last second. They completely botched the ending.
In my opinion, a much better ending would have been for him to kill Nick, flipping the final scene entirely. Imagine Nick burning while Gerard walks away, done with the nonsense because he actually achieved his goal. Let "evil" win for once (though whether that's truly evil is debatable)... 😁

amberfalcon48 said:I’m with everyone here.
They made it look like Nick was genuinely bothered by having a criminal walking free, but when his assistant asked if they messed up, he flat out insisted they didn't. Well, obviously you screwed up! He knew it all along; he was just banking on a high conviction rate!

I also agree about the briefcase subplot. Everything is planned to perfection only for it to fall apart at the last second. They completely botched the ending.
In my opinion, a much better ending would have been for him to kill Nick, flipping the final scene entirely. Imagine Nick burning while Gerard walks away, done with the nonsense because he actually achieved his goal. Let "evil" win for once (though whether that's truly evil is debatable)... 😁

Totally agree, especially regarding that "whitewashed" script.

I’d give this movie a solid seven out of ten—definitely interesting enough to keep you hooked. Honestly, if only there were more people out there acting like Clyde, 😛

Super movie. It isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat, and I think I actually enjoyed seeing Gerard Butler in this one—especially with that rock n' roll vibe.