Law Abiding Citizen could be the movie of the year, but only if you're a big fan of stupid.
This vigilante drama stars Gerard Butler as a family man driven mad by the deaths of his wife and child. They are killed during a home invasion, which is how the movie begins.
To add insult to injury, the district attorney (Jamie Foxx) cuts a deal with one of the two killers, who -- in exchange for his testimony -- gets a light sentence. Butler's character, unhinged by grief and by this plea-bargain turn of events, begins killing people in various creative ways. He wants to scare the district attorney into fixing the justice system, and that takes a heap of senseless violence and gross bloodletting.
Why didn't he go after the writer of this crap while he was at it? Just wondering.
Law Abiding Citizen has some fairly obvious plot holes and narrative oversights and several examples of plain-old bad storytelling. Oh, sure, it's lots of fun to watch entire parking lots full of cars blow up or people lose their heads in unexpected ways, but none of it makes much sense.
Butler's character, Clyde Shelton, wants revenge. He wants the death penalty to be more painful and he wants his wife and child avenged.
Law Abiding Citizen wants to be all mysterious and philosophical, but it's just dumb.
2.5 out of 5
