Basically, it's a time bomb from the opening home invasion scene. Law Abiding Citizen will have you on edge the whole time.
The movie starts with a father and a daughter and ends with a father and a daughter - it's a tough lesson for a lawyer who's preoccupied with his courtroom win rate.
The whole audience jumped at the midway point - it's an outta your skin experience just like the Alien jumping out of the chest scene in Alien.
I didn't expect anything so abrasive since I really can't take Gerard Butler seriously - but he's seriously good.
Together with a great script, his performance makes this a gem of a thriller - if you can stand the heat.
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He's so believable he's scary - no sign of the smug romantic comedy leading man from (The Ugly Truth) though he does show his pecks and his gluts off in one scene - which until now seemed to be his greatest assets. He plays the innocent father-husband plunged into Hell by the murder of his family.
He's waging war against the hypocricy of the "good guys" who are too busy upholding the law rather than seeking justice - they're all in it for themselves and people like him just fall between the cracks.
Maybe that's why this is seriously intense because it has two protagonists and neither of them fit the archetypal villain.
The helpless authorities - like the warden - come the closest to villains.
It is a well-told and extremely well executed story that would have been a Marvel cartoon if not for a masterful script and great performances - you're on a journey with a mysterious destination.
Nothing is clear cut. The red herrings work.
Director F. Gary Gray has Black Film Awards for The Negotiator and Set It Off - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336620/awards
Brian Helgeland (who wrote Philip Noyce's next flick Salt starring Angelina Jolie, Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and the award-winning Mystic River) co-wrote this with Kurt Wimmer whose credits include The Recruit (Al Pacino and Colin Farrell) and Ultraviolet.
Only one criticism: why spoil Jamie Foxx's best line at the end by using it as a throwaway joke for a minor character in a previous scene? We get it.
This is not a movie that panders to audience expectations with macho lines - like Avatar does.
I went because I thought it was a thriller but this crosses over into horror.
Rarely do I cover my eyes. I covered my eyes. Most of the violence is implied but that makes it even worse - if you're a person with an imagination.
People who like stuff like Saw will probably think it's tame.