Posted: 02/16/2010 |
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 Law Abiding Citizen on DVDby Elaine Hegwood Bowen | |
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Law Abiding Citizen is a nail-biting thriller that pits a normal citizen against a top Philadelphia prosecutor and eventually the entire city, after his wife and daughter are butchered and one of the suspects is given a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. After 10 years in jail, one of the suspects is up for the death penalty, only to be murdered before the drugs could take effect. Gerard Butler plays the average citizen named Clyde Shelton, and Jamie Foxx plays Nick Rice, the arrogant, success-driven prosecutor. The movie really pits Shelton against Rice and those whom he feels didn’t mete out the right dose of justice involving the home invasion. He’s behind the murder of the death row inmate and other murders that have yet to be committed. Shelton is diabolical in his methodical killings of many of those involved in the original murder trial associated with his wife and daughter. Rice is brilliant in tracking down just how Shelton is able to commit gruesome murders while incarcerated. Shelton is great as the average joe turned insane inmate. Viola Davis plays the mayor of Philadelphia, and Regina Hall plays Rice’s wife. Law Abiding Citizen is a fast-paced movie that will keep viewers on their toes and on the edge of their seats. The movie poses an important question: If justice isn’t properly served, then is a person dishing out his own vigilante justice any better than the bureaucrats who he feels are behind a flawed system? Elaine Hegwood Bowen is an editor, writer and film critic in Chicago. Got a problem? E-mail us at filmmonthly@gmail.com |