Movie Review-"Law Abiding Citizen"
By Christian Toto www.whatwouldtotowatch.com
Charles Bronson does some nasty things in those “Death Wish” films, but there’s no question the audience is rooting him on every step of the way.
Unless Phil Donahue is in the theater.
Gerard Butler, the vigilante at the heart of the new thriller “Law Abiding Citizen,” makes it all but impossible for audiences to rally around him.
To say precisely why would be to spoil elements of the film, but “Citizen’s” problems don’t stop with an inability to connect with Butler’s anti-hero.
The new film proves dumber than a Jim Carrey comedy, more moronic than “Jumper” and “Push” combined.
Who writes this stuff? And what on earth is Jamie Foxx doing wasting his Oscar cred in such slop?
“Citizen” opens abruptly with a family man named Clyde getting conked on the head by two home invaders who proceed to murder his wife and child - off screen, mercifully.
We soon learn only one of the thugs will be heading to death row. The other will serve but a few years thanks to a judicial snafu. It’s the best the assistant DA (Foxx) can do, but that’s not good enough for Clyde.
He spends the next decade, literally, plotting his vengeance. And he isn’t just angry at the killers. He wants to punish the legal system which couldn’t throw the book at both men.
It’s a crude but effective setup for your standard vigilante film, but “Citizen” pushes the genre in ways it never should be pushed.
Even after Clyde is imprisoned for his actions he’s still able to reach out to smite his enemies.
But how is he able to create such mayhem when he’s incarcerated?
Mid way through, a mystery character appears out of some Deep Throat-approved shadows to explain everything. The character needs to hang around another hour to decipher the rest of this mess.
We never get to know Clyde, his family or anyone else, for that matter. The moral quandry faced by Foxx’s character might be intriguing if the screenplay gave it any room to breathe.
Clyde proves to be a rather unlikeable victim, something confirmed early on during a scene stripped right out of a “Saw” feature. The actor also needs to decide once and for all if his accent will be explained away on screen or not. It floats in and out of the film like a ghost, haunting his performance.
Foxx, always magnetic on screen, is left twisting from one scene to the next, alternately sounding credible and weak with neither emotion registering as needed.
“Law Abiding Citizen” will keep your interest until the half-hearted finale, but who could look away from such a creative train wreck?
Charles Bronson does some nasty things in those “Death Wish” films, but there’s no question the audience is rooting him on every step of the way.
Unless Phil Donahue is in the theater.
Gerard Butler, the vigilante at the heart of the new thriller “Law Abiding Citizen,” makes it all but impossible for audiences to rally around him.
To say precisely why would be to spoil elements of the film, but “Citizen’s” problems don’t stop with an inability to connect with Butler’s anti-hero.
The new film proves dumber than a Jim Carrey comedy, more moronic than “Jumper” and “Push” combined.
Who writes this stuff? And what on earth is Jamie Foxx doing wasting his Oscar cred in such slop?
“Citizen” opens abruptly with a family man named Clyde getting conked on the head by two home invaders who proceed to murder his wife and child - off screen, mercifully.
We soon learn only one of the thugs will be heading to death row. The other will serve but a few years thanks to a judicial snafu. It’s the best the assistant DA (Foxx) can do, but that’s not good enough for Clyde.
He spends the next decade, literally, plotting his vengeance. And he isn’t just angry at the killers. He wants to punish the legal system which couldn’t throw the book at both men.
It’s a crude but effective setup for your standard vigilante film, but “Citizen” pushes the genre in ways it never should be pushed.
Even after Clyde is imprisoned for his actions he’s still able to reach out to smite his enemies.
But how is he able to create such mayhem when he’s incarcerated?
Mid way through, a mystery character appears out of some Deep Throat-approved shadows to explain everything. The character needs to hang around another hour to decipher the rest of this mess.
We never get to know Clyde, his family or anyone else, for that matter. The moral quandry faced by Foxx’s character might be intriguing if the screenplay gave it any room to breathe.
Clyde proves to be a rather unlikeable victim, something confirmed early on during a scene stripped right out of a “Saw” feature. The actor also needs to decide once and for all if his accent will be explained away on screen or not. It floats in and out of the film like a ghost, haunting his performance.
Foxx, always magnetic on screen, is left twisting from one scene to the next, alternately sounding credible and weak with neither emotion registering as needed.
“Law Abiding Citizen” will keep your interest until the half-hearted finale, but who could look away from such a creative train wreck?
posted by Ron Futrell at
10:42 PM
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