“Law Abiding Citizen” is a hard film to watch. We are introduced to a simple family man, Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) who witnesses the murder of his wife and daughter during a home invasion. These opening scenes are extremely brutal and little is held back from the viewer… ergo the hard to watch. But then as the storyline of his revenge on everyone who had anything to do with the murders as well as those who helped them get off grows, it becomes hard to watch because of how preposterous it gets. On the surface I thought the recent “Law Abiding Citizen” would be a movie that I could really sink my teeth into and identify with. After all, the very idea that anyone would break into my home and murder my wife and daughter is enough to send me into a tizzy. And admittedly I would probably be in many ways worse that Shelton as I would not even wait for the cops to get my revenge. And I would make sure the murderers suffered unimaginable horror before finally ending their miserable existence.

Sure, I’d go to jail… but as long as there was suffering at my hands for what was taken from me, it would be totally worth it.

If that was the simple premise for this film, I would have been all over it. I love to see monsters like this get what they deserve. But where the movie takes a turn down the wrong alley is in Shelton’s desire to also kill everyone who had anything to do with letting one of the killers get away with only a prison sentence. I think this goes a little too far in the revenge game. I applaud the killers’ comeuppance, but I cannot agree with the murder of ‘innocents’, no matter how badly they have done their job or how little of a conscience they may have. This quickly made Shelton’s character much less sympathetic and derailed what could have been an excellent film. To make matters worse, Shelton ends up in prison and yet somehow manages to pull off the killings from behind bars with little or no explanation as to how he was able to do it. I kept thinking I was missing something.

Jamie Foxx also stars in “Law Abiding Citizen”, as the lawyer who makes the plea bargain that kept one of the killers from getting a death sentence. Once he realizes his family is going to become a target, he decides he has to put a stop to Shelton’s murder spree. As decent of an actor as Foxx has surprisingly become, he really doesn’t do much with the role here. I was really hoping that he would be able to ramp up the scene chewing with Butler, but ultimately the two don’t come off as strong as they could have.

Anchor Bay is releasing a 2-disc Bluray set for “Law Abiding Citizen” in order to allow for both and ‘Unrated’ and ‘theatrical’ versions as well as a handful of special features. The first disc has the ‘unrated’ version as well as the few featurettes. Here you’ll find “The Justice of Law Abiding Citizen” which tries to focus on the legal aspects of the film, and “Law in Black and White” which is more of a making of piece… that’s in black and white! There is also “Preliminary Arguments” which looks at the visual effects of the film. The second disc holds the ‘theatrical’ version along with a commentary by producers Lucas Foster and Alan Siegel. It’s a better than average commentary for an average movie.

With “Law Abiding Citizen” I was hoping for a nail-biter that would allow me to enjoy seeing really bad people get what they deserve. Instead it gave me more marginally bad people getting something they didn’t.

Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb, Michael Irby, Regina Hall
Extras: The Justice of Law Abiding Citizen; Law in Black & White; Behind the Scenes; Preliminary Arguments – The Visual Effects; The Verdict – Winning Trailer Mash-up; Theatrical Cut and Commentary by Producers Lucas Foster and Alan Siegel
Specification: 1080p High Definition (2.40:1); 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Studio: Anchor Bay
Release Date: 2/16/2010
MPAA Rating: Unrated & R
http://www.lawabidingcitizenfilm.com

We'll give Law Abiding Citizen (Bluray) a C.