"Evil will always win because Good is stupid." That line comes from Spaceballs and illustrates one of the only problems in cinema and in Law Abiding Citizen in particular. When the "bad" guy is so diabolically intelligent Assistant District Attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) never manages to get one step ahead of Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) until the script demands it. Rather, he plays catch up for a majority of the film's runtime. See, throughout the action thriller, Shelton is able to mastermind outrageous killings without anyone being the wiser after the imperfect justice system fails to deal with his wife and daughter's murderers. And how does he do this? Because he's smarter than Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA and the Philadelphia Police Department put together.
For a good hour-maybe more-Citizen is a rollicking story, deftly combining explosions and exposition to keep the audience engaged. Butler and Foxx support their own dueling storylines, criss crossing one another and intersecting sporadically. It is in these times, when the city of Philadelphia is in Shelton's grip, that the movie fires on all cylinders, both literally and figuratively. Director F. Gary Gray puts us into the center of the action, watching all corners of the screen to see where the next attack comes from, making us as tense as the characters. These isn't normal violence; no, it's calculated, planned and exacting, designed to "get" only certain people. In a way, the film works like a Saw flick in that Shelton takes it upon himself to be the voice of morality for the government and judicial system. Jigsaw sees himself as an arbiter of morals in that series, too. Shelton and Jigsaw have something else in common: the over-the-top manner in which they teach their lessons. Without spoiling anything, how Shelton is behind this plan is...how do we say it...fantasy? But good fantasy since it could be plausible in the real world.
Take, for instance, a scene early in the film featuring a botched lethal injection. It is grotesque and undauntingly disgusting, yes, but asks a very pointed question. Why is it someone who showed no mercy or compassion toward another human being being offered either of those things? Even later, when Shelton takes apart the other attacker is a gruesome display of engineering prowess, he's not doing so to be a sociopath. It's not even revenge, really. It's all about a lesson. Unfortunately, innocent people are caught in the crosshairs of the lesson, though it could all have been avoided.
And here's the biggest gripe against Law Abiding Citizen comes in: the stupidity of the good guys, particularly Rice. From the beginning of the film, he's shown to be arrogant and considered only with his conviction rate. To put it bluntly, he has no people skills-not even for his own wife and daughter-nor does he "get it right." In an early conversation with Shelton, Rice makes the assertion that some justice is better than no justice at all. Frankly, for a husband and father who is grieving, those words are of cold comfort. It's humanity at its most basic level. Yes, it is job of the DA's office to put people behind bars and to make deals. Viewers see that every week on Law & Order. There are several other times through the film Rice will make a statement along these lines and the audience knows it should have been softened in some way. In a way, Rice is the reason this movie even exists.
(Running about 108 minutes, the film does have room to flesh out a couple things. First and foremost is the old axiom of "show, not tell." It's especially crucial here since the entirety of the film rests on feeling the relationship between Shelton and his family and the court proceedings. We're privy to neither of them, outside of a five minute scene with his daughter at the beginning. I'm sure Gray wanted to get to the action as soon as possible, but that doesn't mean it has to come at the expense of valuable exposition. Writer Kurt Wimmer-he did the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair-does wisely chooses to stay away from the cliche of Shelton confessing in a voice over montage sequence. In this case, at least, telling is better than showing.)
Imagine the following hypothetical situation. Person X has demonstrated, at least once, to be very shrewd and smart, carefully parsing his words to great effect. This same person has similarly shown a devotion to time and agreements...something law enforcement knows about. Why, then, do the same law enforcement personnel not follow the letter of any future agreement to the exact second? Why is it they feel the need to flaunt their own authority when, in reality, they have no control at all? And how does one man turn into Andy Dufresne without a single person knowing about it. I venture to think these are all questions Gray and Wimmer hope the audience doesn't think of. That's what I mean by stupid good guys.
Perhaps I'm overselling this one point. Citizen does a number of things right in its 108 minutes on the screen. Above all else, it's simply engaging. Gray is able to mask most of his punches, allowing them to hit the audience and characters fast and furiously. Even after the first one, the second still comes as a complete shock despite the fact we should be ready for it. And then there's the choices in casting. Butler is instantly compelling as both grieved and an "evil genius" despite a lot of the exposition leading to both emotions is missing. He also gets the audience to sympathize with him, at least at first. Foxx is in the same boat, buying completely into the arrogance of Rice immediately. Even if we don't necessarily buy the moment the proverbial light bulb goes off in his head as being organic, his moves are always keeping in line with the character, not to mention the actor playing him. There is always a slight arrogance, an ego, if you will, to Foxx in all his performances. Here, it works to great effect to create the character of Nick Rice.
The director also manages to stage a beautiful blaze at the end of the picture. Shot in slow motion, with rich deep colors and never betraying the tricks used to create the scene, it is simply awe inspiring. Too bad it's been spoiled in some of the promotional material.