Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

goldenhound32 said:@stormystag43
He absolutely played the bone card.

Right, I completely overlooked this little detail... fast forward ten years and everyone looks identical, except for the daughters of Fox News.🙄

Fox's daughter would have still been in her mother's womb ten years before the verdict was handed down. There’s actually a scene where Fox returns from court and his pregnant wife is waiting for him on a sofa. So, by the time Clyde finishes his meticulous planning and begins his crusade ten years later, the kid is already ten years old.

Beyond that, the movie is pretty hard to swallow, riddled with logical leaps and plot holes, and frankly, Gerard Butler's performance doesn't help matters—he just doesn't quite fit the role of Clyde for me.☕

Brutal... Honestly, Gerard Butler really shines when he plays the "man of justice" type. He leaned into that same energy back in 300. 🥳

Beyond that, you can't beat the scene where he strips down right before getting arrested. 😍

I wish they had included more moments like that. 🤣

As for the plot itself... it’s nothing groundbreaking. We've seen this formula a dozen times. It reminds me of that movie where Samuel L. Jackson misses a court date because Ben Affleck cuts him off in traffic, leading to a high-speed chase through the whole film. That one was a bit less violent, but fundamentally, it's the exact same setup, isn't it? 😁

I simply cannot wrap my head around this performance by Gerard Butler. He acts as if he’s constantly trying to avoid making a scene, doesn't he? Honestly, wouldn't it be far more beneficial if he just stuck to his roots in films like 300 or Dracula 2000?
It’s a movie. It’s whatever. They attempt to present some sort of profound moral dilemma, yet I find myself already knowing exactly how the whole thing will conclude.

What an incredibly foolish ending... If it hadn't gone that way, I think it would have been a truly great movie.

Such a shame, really...

I agree, I honestly couldn't believe everything would end up turning out that way... I mean, I was actually thinking even when they discovered that tunnel, that it might just be another one of his tricks... but... well, it doesn't matter, at least he "finished" what he started... personally, I'm not really a vengeful person, though you can never truly know... once you stop to think about it and put yourself in that kind of position, anything is possible...

amberraven99 said:I agree, I honestly couldn't believe everything would end up turning out that way... I mean, I was actually thinking even when they discovered that tunnel, that it might just be another one of his tricks... but... well, it doesn't matter, at least he "finished" what he started... personally, I'm not really a vengeful person, though you can never truly know... once you stop to think about it and put yourself in that kind of position, anything is possible...

amberraven99, if you thought LAC was good, you should check out this. 😉

rustyscout34 said:amberraven99, if you thought LAC was good, you should check out this. 😉

The subject matter is great and those camera angles? Fantastic. But honestly, it just felt way too sterile for my taste.

rustyscout34 said:amberraven99, if you thought LAC was good, you should check out this. 😉

thanks🙂

Jerry Martinez50 said:The subject matter is great and those camera angles? Fantastic. But honestly, it just felt way too sterile for my taste.

hmm, I guess I don't see how it could have gone any other way. 🤷Otherwise we would've ended up with LAC2 instead of an actual serious movie about a serious topic.

rustyscout34 said:hmm, I guess I don't see how it could have gone any other way. 🤷Otherwise we would've ended up with LAC2 instead of an actual serious movie about a serious topic.

Look, I'm not saying the movie is bad—I gave it a solid 7—it just didn't totally click for me. And honestly? I wasn't a fan of the lead actor. He felt way too cold during that scene where he finds out his daughter was killed. To me, the film lacks subtlety, though thank Bog there’s no forced sentimentality. That said, the theme is absolutely brilliant, especially with how it questions the whole idea of revenge. In that regard, the movie is pure genius.
My apologies for the off-topic tangent! I won't derail the thread any further.🙂

The ending was pretty lackluster... felt unrealistic, especially with how rushed those famous tunnels were.

Jerry Martinez50 said:Look, I'm not saying the movie is bad—I gave it a solid 7—it just didn't totally click for me. And honestly? I wasn't a fan of the lead actor. He felt way too cold during that scene where he finds out his daughter was killed. To me, the film lacks subtlety, though thank Bog there’s no forced sentimentality. That said, the theme is absolutely brilliant, especially with how it questions the whole idea of revenge. In that regard, the movie is pure genius.
My apologies for the off-topic tangent! I won't derail the thread any further.🙂

I mean, everyone's giving it a 5, but I was just asking how you'd handle a theme like this differently without crossing into over-the-top territory (like Law Abiding Citizen or Lady Vengeance) or, even worse, getting cheesy? 🤷

btw, I don't think we're drifting too far off topic. These movies are pretty similar. 🙂

To me, the movie just doesn't land one way or the other; it’s totally middle-of-the-road. Personally, I’ve always had a soft spot for revenge flicks, so I went into this with high hopes. But my expectations were all over the place—I was picturing a slow-burn, moody masterpiece reminiscent of those gritty 70s classics, yet what I actually got was something more akin to a James Bond action romp. It was all frantic cuts, a sugary aesthetic, and an ending that felt rushed and half-baked. Honestly, it could have been so much better.

goldenhound32 said: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?

So, look, Darby (my bad if I got the name wrong, the absolute psycho who wiped out his whole family) actually hopped into the guy's car and swiped his handgun.

I actually just finished watching the movie and honestly, it was pretty good, though the ending felt totally nonsensical to me. It felt super weird how this family man suddenly transformed into some high-tech spy/assassin type overnight. I wasn't feeling Nick at all, and that ending was straight-up garbage, but hey, it's definitely worth a watch 😉

What an absolute disaster of a movie. It actually started off with some promise, but everything after that was just pure downhill. 🤦

Just finished watching.

The movie isn't garbage—it’s watchable—but man, they seriously went overboard here... There is zero chance one guy pulls off complex operations like that all by himself, no matter how brilliant he is or how much cash he’s sitting on. And he’s basically playing the entire city and every single agency like a fiddle!! It just doesn't fly.

Then there's that bit about the prison. He tricks them into putting him in solitary, only to run his whole operation from there because he spent years prepping tunnels and gear... I mean, at this rate, you’d think he’d have direct access to the White House and the airport right from his cell. 👎 Is the prison administration just brain-dead??

And the ending! What were they thinking having him bring napalm into the prison? Why would a lawyer walk right into his cell and risk his life like an idiot when the police could have handled it properly?? The script is a total mess... 🙄

quietmaker44 said:Just finished watching.

The movie isn't garbage—it’s watchable—but man, they seriously went overboard here... There is zero chance one guy pulls off complex operations like that all by himself, no matter how brilliant he is or how much cash he’s sitting on. And he’s basically playing the entire city and every single agency like a fiddle!! It just doesn't fly.

Then there's that bit about the prison. He tricks them into putting him in solitary, only to run his whole operation from there because he spent years prepping tunnels and gear... I mean, at this rate, you’d think he’d have direct access to the White House and the airport right from his cell. 👎 Is the prison administration just brain-dead??

And the ending! What were they thinking having him bring napalm into the prison? Why would a lawyer walk right into his cell and risk his life like an idiot when the police could have handled it properly?? The script is a total mess... 🙄

Since I always find myself trying to justify the movies I actually enjoy. 😁 I would say:
It’s been enough years since that rigged verdict that there is more than enough time to map out a full plan. You saw how they hauled him in; they found those law books on him, which makes it pretty obvious he came prepared.
The lawyer steps in because the whole situation starts feeling personal once the movie begins. At that point, everyone just interprets things however they want.

Scott Chase said:Since I always find myself trying to justify the movies I actually enjoy. 😁 I would say:
It’s been enough years since that rigged verdict that there is more than enough time to map out a full plan. You saw how they hauled him in; they found those law books on him, which makes it pretty obvious he came prepared.
The lawyer steps in because the whole situation starts feeling personal once the movie begins. At that point, everyone just interprets things however they want.

Look, I’m not even arguing the part where he becomes a lawyer after ten years; fine, whatever.

But how on earth do you plan out high-stakes operations from a prison cell that nobody is going to check for a decade? Nobody’s going to notice those massive tunnels, and apparently, nobody checks on inmates in the middle of the night? Give me a break.
.... I know Hollywood likes to play fast and loose with their scripts, but this was just straight-up ridiculous. 👎

To me, it felt like it ended way too soon. I mean, someone who can pull off an operation that seamless really shouldn't be taken out by some annoying, persistent lawyer.

I was actually hoping the lawyer would take out his wife and daughter, considering his daughter was exactly the same age as his own when she was murdered.