Law Abiding Citizen
Here’s one of the most original, yet obvious (as in, “How has no one really done this before?”) thriller premises in recent memory. The key to its’ success lies in the performances by Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx, and more importantly, the behind-the-scenes talents of writer Kurt Wimmer (who scripted the underrated “Equilibrium,” as well as other thrillers like “Street Kings” and “The Recruit”) and director F. Gary Gray (back in “The Negotiator” and “Set it Off” form- not to mention “The Italian Job”- after the limp “Be Cool”).
The story is simple enough. Butler plays Clyde Sheldon, a family man whose life is stripped away when his wife and young daughter are raped and murdered during a home robbery. Before the case can go to trial, however, the assistant DA on the case (Jamie Foxx’s Nick Rice) makes a deal with defense, for one of the perps’ cooperation in making sure the other one (the one whose actions were less-egregious no less) gets the death penalty. Sheldon is crushed by the move- he wants to see justice; unfortunately, what he sees is a miscarriage of justice, and a prosecutor who’d rather see some justice than risk the possibility of losing.
Ten years later (and this is important to keep in mind), Rice is looking to finally put the case to bed. His career ambitions have made him second in charge at the DA’s office, even though it’s at the expense of his family life with wife (Regina Hall) and daughter. But when the “painless” execution of one of the assailants goes horribly wrong, he’s forced to go back on the case. The first person they look at is Sheldon, but how he could tamper with such a thing is a mystery. A confession helps, but not until he has Nick playing by his rules before another person involved with the case is killed.
Wimmer’s script is a clever reworking of “The Fugitive” by way of an intriguing morality play like the underrated “Changing Lanes,” where two strong personalities are linked by a tragedy that will bring ruin upon both of them. We sympathize with Clyde, and understand his endgame, his frustration, even if morally we can’t condone his actions, let alone understand how he’s getting away with certain things from a prison cell, much less solitary confinement. But as Rice and his partners learn in their investigation, “the only way to make Clyde stop is a bullet to the head. If he wants you dead, you’ll end up dead.”
Gray has worked in this kind of terrain before- best of all in “The Negotiator” and “Set it Off,” where good people were forced into terrible situations by a system that screwed them over all too easily. What makes “Law Abiding Citizen” (and those other films) better than the usual thriller nonsense are set pieces that’ll make you queasy in what they say about a character you’re asked to sympathize with, and a consistent logic in the script that doesn’t let anyone off the hook for what they did or didn’t do.
The ending will give some people pause. Without revealing it, I’ll simply say that it’s really the only way it could end. To do so differently would violate the film’s principles. And that sense of right and wrong, seen through the eyes of those who have taken morally questionable tactics to get their definition of justice (played out by smart characters, played by actors who’re fearless and unafraid of showing the bad sides of their characters, in an intellectual game of cat-and-mouse). Gotta love it when something this fresh, yet familiar, comes around to catch you off guard.
