Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	F. Gary Gray
Produced by	Gerard Butler Kurt Wimmer Mark Gill Lucas Foster Alan Siegel
Written by	Kurt Wimmer
Starring	Jamie Foxx Gerard Butler Bruce McGill Colm Meaney Leslie Bibb Michael Irby Regina Hall
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Jonathan Sela
Editing by	Tariq Anwar
Studio	The Film Department
Distributed by	Overture Films
Release date(s)	October 16, 2009 (2009-10-16)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$53 million
Box office	$126,690,726

Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 American thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. The film takes place in Philadelphia and tells the story of a man whose developed sociopathic tendencies drove him into killing while targeting not only his family's killer but also the criminal justice system. Law Abiding Citizen was released theatrically in North America on October 16, 2009.

The film was nominated for a Saturn Award as the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film of the year, and the film also garnered NAACP Image Awards nominations for both Jamie Foxx (Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture) and F. Gary Gray (Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture).

Plot

During a home invasion, Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) witnesses his wife and young daughter's murder at the hands of Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte) and his accomplice Rupert Ames (Josh Stewart). Prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) claims that the case against Darby is weak, even with Clyde's testimony alone is insufficient to prove either suspect's guilt. A deal is made whereby Darby will give testimony sending Ames to death row in exchange for a lesser sentence. Since Darby was the actual killer, Clyde is left feeling betrayed by the justice system.

Ten years later, Rupert is executed via a botched lethal injection that leaves a slow, painful death. The authorities suspect that Darby is the culprit and converge on his home, but Darby escapes when he receives a mysterious phone call leading him to a warehouse. There he ends up incapacitated through a series of events, and the unknown caller reveals himself to be Clyde.

While Darby is paralyzed, Clyde slowly dismembers him. Finding Darby's mutilated corpse, Nick, his assistant Sarah Lowell (Leslie Bibb), Detectives Dunnigan (Colm Meaney), Garza (Michael Irby) and the authorities realize that Clyde was behind the killings and arrest him as the chief suspect. He confesses his guilt before offering a full confession in exchange for a new mattress in his cell, which Nick reluctantly agrees. Clyde represents himself at his hearing before Judge Laura Burch (Annie Corley) but is appalled when he is granted bail. He lashes out at her over his apparent guilt and is subsequently held in contempt of court.

Granted his mattress, Clyde gives his full confession and demands a meal, along with his iPod, by exactly 1:00pm the next day in exchange for revealing the location of Clarence's missing attorney (Richard Portnow). Clyde receives his meal at 1:08pm, and as a result the detectives arrive too late to save the attorney. Meanwhile, Clyde murders his cellmate with the bone from the steak and is sent to solitary confinement.

Sarah finds evidence connecting Clyde with the Department of Defense. Nick and District Attorney Jonas Cantrell (Bruce McGill) learn from a CIA contact (Michael Kelly) that Clyde was a technical genius who facilitated assassinations, and is a brilliant strategist specializing in eliminating targets through unconventional means. After Judge Burch is killed by an exploding cellphone, Clyde declares that unless he is cleared of all charges and released by the next morning at 06:00am, he will "kill everyone". When his demands are not met, five members of the staff and Sarah are killed with car bombs. Meanwhile, the mayor (Viola Davis), alarmed at the deaths of the district attorney staff, assigns protection details to Nick and Jonas. Nick and Jonas later attend Sarah's funeral. While leaving the cemetery their convoy is ambushed by a weaponised UGV robot, which kills Jonas.

Nick attempts to resign but the mayor refuses to accept it, instead appointing him as Acting District Attorney. Nick receives information from Sarah's boyfriend Chester, leading to a garage owned by Clyde next to the prison, where he and Dunnigan discover a tunnel leading to the solitary confinement cells. Here are surveillance equipment, weapons, and disguises. Clyde's plans indicate he has gone to Philadelphia City Hall. Disguised as a janitor, he placed a bomb in order to kill the mayor during a security meeting with city officials. Nick rushes to city hall and finds the bomb, but the bomb disposal specialist is unable to disarm it, and they cannot evacuate the building for fear Clyde is watching.

Meanwhile, Clyde returns to his cell and finds Nick waiting for him. Nick cautions him against activating the bomb with his mobile phone, but Clyde does so anyway. Nick seals the cell door and flees the building. Clyde suddenly realizes they have placed the bomb under his bed. The bomb detonates, killing him.

The final scene is Nick and his wife (Regina Hall), finally able to watch their daughter at her recital.

Cast

• Jamie Foxx as Nick Rice
• Gerard Butler as Clyde Shelton
• Colm Meaney as Detective Dunnigan
• Bruce McGill as Jonas Cantrell
• Leslie Bibb as Sarah Lowell
• Michael Irby as Detective Garza
• Gregory Itzin as Warden Inger
• Regina Hall as Kelly Rice
• Emerald-Angel Young as Denise Rice
• Christian Stolte as Clarence J. Darby
• Annie Corley as Judge Laura Burch
• Richard Portnow as Bill Reynolds
• Viola Davis as Mayor April Henry
• Michael Kelly as Bray
• Josh Stewart as Rupert Ames
• Roger Bart as Brian Bringham
• Dan Bittner as Serneo
• Evan Hart as Collins
• Reno Laquintano as Dwight Dixon

Production

Filming began in August 2008^{[citation needed]} and took place in and around Philadelphia. Filming locations included Philadelphia's City Hall and the old Holmesburg Prison. Butler and his production company developed the film. For the two years of planning, Butler planned to play Nick Rice. At the last minute he decided that it would be interesting to take on the role of Clyde. Since Jamie Foxx was already signed on to play Clyde, he asked if he would mind switching roles. Foxx loved his performance in 300 and thought that as a viewer he would love seeing Gerard "beating people and blowing stuff up". Butler said that having Foxx and himself switch roles would be "awesome".

Soundtrack

Main article: Law Abiding Citizen (soundtrack)

The score to Law Abiding Citizen was composed by Brian Tyler, who recorded his score with a 52-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage with help from Kieron Charlesworth. The movie also uses "Eminence Front" by The Who and "Engine No. 9" by Deftones on Clyde's iPod while he is eating his steak in his cell. While Clyde calls Darby to help him 'escape' the police after Ames' execution, "Bloodline" by Slayer is Darby's ringer. The tune at the end for closing credits is "Sin's A Good Man's Brother" by Grand Funk Railroad.

Release

The film was released theatrically on October 16, 2009. The first theatrical trailer was released on August 14, 2009 and was attached to District 9.

The premiere was held on November 15, 2009 at the Cineworld complex in Glasgow - hometown of Gerard Butler. Many British tabloids have labeled this event as the "Homecoming Premiere", in reference to the Homecoming Scotland celebrations.

Reception

The film took second place in its opening weekend, with $21,039,502, behind Where the Wild Things Are. It went on to gross $126.6 million total worldwide.

Law Abiding Citizen received mostly negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 25% of critics gave positive reviews based on 154 reviews with an average score of 4.3/10. However, the film was well-received by casual viewers, earning a 77% positive review on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 3.5/5 star user rating on Amazon.com. Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating based on 100 reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 34% based on 26 reviews. One notable exception was Roger Ebert. In his review for the Chicago Sun Times, Ebert said, "Law Abiding Citizen is the kind of movie you will like more at the time than in retrospect." He then went on to say, "Still, there's something to be said for a movie you like well enough at the time." Ebert rated the film 3 out of a possible 4 stars.

External links

• Official website
• Law Abiding Citizen at the Internet Movie Database
• Law Abiding Citizen at Box Office Mojo
• Law Abiding Citizen at Rotten Tomatoes