Law Abiding Citizen
Law Abiding Citizen If, like Joanne, you are having a hard time believing that good things still go on in the world, that somewhere people are falling in love, that phones ring with good news, and that there are things to look forward to, this movie may be for you. Randy, who remains less cynical, had a harder time with it. Jamie Foxx is a Philadelphia prosecutor more interested in protecting his high conviction rate than in pursuing justice; Gerard Butler is the man whose wife and daughter have been murdered. Foxx decides to make a plea deal with the more guilty of the two men who committed the crime: his partner will be executed, but he will be free in a few years. Not surprisingly, this does not sit well with Butler’s character, a man with many hidden talents. Fortunately, he is up again Foxx’s character, a man so arrogant that he cannot, even while the city explodes around him, accept any responsibility for his decision or admit that it might have been the wrong one. He never does and Joanne found it very satisfying to detest him. Still, while you can understand Butler’s character’s motives, you can’t applaud his actions, so you can’t actually root for him. So there’s a real flaw in the plot. Randy didn’t find enough surprises to hold his interests while enduring the grimness and he didn’t find it very believable. Most of the violence is not seen, but that doesn’t help much. It’s always nice to see Philadelphia, although it troubles Joanne that so little of it now seems familiar to her. There are several nice supporting performances. ** (11/2/09)