Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

Director:

F. Gary Gray

Writer:

Kurt Wimmer

Stars:

Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamie Foxx	...	Nick Rice
Gerard Butler	...	Clyde Shelton
Colm Meaney	...	Detective Dunnigan
Bruce McGill	...	Jonas Cantrell
Leslie Bibb	...	Sarah Lowell
Michael Irby	...	Detective Garza
Gregory Itzin	...	Warden Iger
Regina Hall	...	Kelly Rice
Emerald-Angel Young	...	Denise Rice (as Emerald Angel Young)
Christian Stolte	...	Clarence Darby
Annie Corley	...	Judge Laura Burch
Richard Portnow	...	Bill Reynolds
Viola Davis	...	Mayor
Michael Kelly	...	Bray
Josh Stewart	...	Rupert Ames (as Joshua Stewart)

Storyline

Clyde Shelton's family is brutally murdered. The ones responsible are caught. However, because of improper procedure, the D.A., Nick Rice only has circumstantial evidence. So he decides to get one of them to testify against the other. When Shelton learns of this, he is not happy. Ten years later, the one who was convicted is being executed but something goes wrong; his execution goes awry and he suffers. They learn that someone tampered with the machine. And the other one is found dead, killed in a gruesome manner. Rice suspects Shelton, so he has him picked up. At first, Shelton agrees to a plea agreement with Rice but changes his mind. It appears that Shelton is not done, it appears he blames the whole system and is declaring war on it going after everyone involved with his family's case. So Rice has to stop him but Shelton is way ahead of him.

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Plot Keywords:

justice | deal | investigation | criminal mastermind | attorney | 

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Taglines:

The System Must Pay

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape, and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Constantin Film [Germany] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Que justice soit faite

Filming Locations:

500 Cheyney Rd, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$21,039,502 (USA) (16 October 2009)

Gross:

$73,343,413 (USA) (29 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Department, The, Gerard Butler Alan Siegel Entertainment, Warp Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 118 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character "Bill Reynolds" was named after the real Bill Reynolds, of Reynolds K-9, who supplied the police dogs for the film.

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Goofs

Correctional officers of the PA Department or Corrections wear gray and black uniform shirts, not white. White is reserved for lieutenants and higher ranks.

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Quotes

Nick Rice: It's not what you know. It's what you can prove in court.

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Connections

Referenced in I Hate Everything, the Search for the Worst: House of the Dead (2015)

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Soundtracks

Bloodline
Written by Tom Araya (as Tomas Araya), Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman
Performed by Slayer
Courtesy of American Recordings, a unit of Sony Music Entertainment
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Law Abiding Citizen is a thrill ride

This film is gory, but the gore is mostly suggested rather than shown. You can make up your own mind as to how gory you want it to be. Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) and Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) are excellent as "frenemies." They still sympathize with each other, in a way, as each teaches the other a lesson. Butler is excellent as the crushed father and husband who believes he must use his unique skills and talent to make an example of a justice system that has forgotten the victims. You sympathize with him even as he enacts his vicious lesson plan upon Foxx's coworkers. Foxx is an arrogant self-serving assistant district attorney who is only concerned with his conviction rate as he claws his way up the ladder in the justice system. He has forgotten the victims. But when he has a family of his own, he begins to see Clyde's point, yet he cannot give in to all of Clyde's demands to stop the carnage. Beautifully films in a noir tone with excellent timing on the stunts and effects. Law Abiding Citizen is an adrenaline-pumping experience. Bring your heart meds.