Film Review: Law Abiding Citizen (18) ****

Nov 27 2009 by Graham Young, Birmingham Mail

THERE is unlikely to be a sillier thriller than this one before the year ends.

But, if you are in the mood to see 2009 out with a bang and have always fancied taking the law into your own hands, it could be right up your street.

A cross between Sally Field’s Eye for An Eye (1996), and Robert Redford’s The Last Castle (2001), it’s the sort of movie that Michael Douglas might have made in his Falling Down days.

Desperately in search of a decent hit after hitting the middle ground with the likes of PS I Love You and Gamer, Gerard Butler takes the twinkle-eyed title role of a man out for revenge at any price.

As Clyde Shelton, the six-pack star of 300 now has to cope with being stabbed.

And the guilt of losing his wife and daughter after two men raid his house.

Deal-making attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) helps put the guilty behind bars – but not for as long as Clyde would obviously like.

Especially when a plea bargain sets one of his family’s killers free.

Taglined “The system must pay”, and written by Kurt Wimmer (The Thomas Crown Affair / Equilibrium / Street Kings), the sheer inventiveness of the film which follows can only be applauded.

And director F Gary Gray (The Italian Job 2003 / The Negotiator) ensures that it’s all so far-fetched it reaches out for infinity.