Review: Despite Some Missteps ‘Law Abiding Citizen’ Provides a Suitable Moral Dilemma Wrapped in an Action/Thriller

Okay. When a movie is called “Law Abiding Citizen,” you can be pretty sure the film you’re about to see will be about anything but. But I have to admit, Gerard Butler’s Clyde Shelton makes a pretty good case. Director F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job”), provides an interesting moral dilemma, one which allows you to follow its joint protagonist/antagonist down a rabbit hole of murder and mayhem and almost make you sympathize with him. If anything, it shows how far the Legal System has come from endorsing ‘an eye for an eye’ ideology. At any rate, with a top-notch cast and interesting premise, “Law Abiding Citizen” entertains, even if it doesn’t fully transcend. 

I have to hand it to F. Gary Gray for his treatment of the material here (written by Kurt Wimmer of “Equilibrium” fame). “Law Abiding Citizen” was ripe for yet another entry into the torture porn genre, landing smack dab in the middle of the “Saw” craze. But what he does, oddly, is present a serial killer, Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler), who thinks he’s a victim, and the story works because in so many ways he is. The film opens by showing his wife and child brutally murdered by two perpetrators. The accomplice gets the death penalty while the real culprit cuts a deal and is freed. The condemnation of ‘broken’ justice is on display here, and I’m sure you can see where this is going. 

I guess you could quantify “Law Abiding Citizen” as a cross between a serial killer movie and “The Next Three Days,” starring Russell Crowe, except this time the protagonist is a genius instead of an everyman. The movie portrays Clyde Shelton as some kind of engineer/ex-CIA-type. The way he (spoilers) tracks, kidnaps, and tortures the murderer of his family is sadistic—but the cinematography never quite gets to the level one would expect for the crime and his hatred of the man. It’s the same criticism I had of Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Only God Forgives;” the vilest person is quickly dispatched off camera, while inconsequential nothings are subsequently brutally dispatched. 

But the real meat of Gray’s film—and its only real criticism—is that it wants you to view Shelton as a protagonist…but you really can’t. His qualms with the justice system are real (and one scene where he lawyers his way out of a no bail ruling during his murder arraignment gets close to making the movie’s point in stellar fashion), but he’s just too vicious. “Law Abiding Citizen” is basically a movie that starts off with deep moral questions as presented in “A Time to Kill,” but then quickly devolves into a “Se7en”-type action/suspense thriller. It hits in a bizarre manner because Shelton’s not evil in the sense that Kevin Spacey is in that movie. But he is evil, and it’s hard to feel sorry for him as the body count rises. 

What is unique about “Law Abiding Citizen,” however, is that most of his murders take place while Clyde is imprisoned after he surrenders for committing his initial vengeful murder. Like most killers in movies of these types, he only gets caught because he wants to. However, the film’s ultimate explanation for his methods isn’t as interesting as it wants it to be. I suppose this is because we realize that Shelton has become completely unhinged. And while it’s near impossible to root for him, it’s equally hard to root for Jamie Foxx, who plays his adversary, District Attorney Nick Rice. There’s not much motive for the grudge between the two other than the script’s demands for there to be one.

Additional players such as Leslie Bibb, Colm Meaney, and Regina Hall add depth to the film; the acting, pace, and flow of the film are all on point as well. 

What is missing from the film is its decision of what type of movie it wants to be. Butler often gets a bad rap, but given the right script he does a good job with the material. Here he must play a ‘smarter than the cops’ killer; however, he really should be playing a grieved husband, and it just kind of hits the wrong way. The film sets itself up as if it has some over-arching parable to tell; however, the end really only shows its hand with a lot of explosions and murders of a bunch of city officials, none of whom really deserved it. 

“Law Abiding Citizen” is a well-done portrait of an aggrieved man who has, in essence, lost his marbles. My biggest criticism is that its advanced billing, plot, and theme work hard to shoot that concept in the foot. 

On par, “Law Abiding Citizen” is not a bad film to watch. It’s entertaining, well-produced, well-shot, and thankfully avoids devolving into blood and guts when it would have been so easy to. The film will likely entertain fans of Gerard Butler or lovers of these types of crime/action thrillers. Those looking for depth or answers under its action-paced proceedings may leave scratching their heads just a bit. But all-in-all it’s a fine entry into this year’s ‘Action Movie May.’ 

*”Law Abiding Citizen” is currently available to watch on most streaming platforms.