Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
Law Abiding Citizen is a slick, entertaining revenge thriller that benefits from a genuinely compelling premise and strong chemistry between Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. The plot starts with real momentum and some inventive set-pieces, but gradually strains credibility as Clyde Shelton's seemingly omnipotent scheming from a prison cell defies logic. The acting is serviceable — Butler commits to his role with intensity and Foxx is solid, but neither delivers anything particularly nuanced. Cinematography is workmanlike Philadelphia-set thriller visuals, functional but unremarkable. The film earns modest novelty points for its morally ambiguous vigilante-vs-system premise, though it doesn't fully exploit its more interesting philosophical angles. The ending is the film's weakest element — it resolves in a rushed, anticlimactic, and somewhat unsatisfying fashion that undercuts the tension built throughout.