The American justice system is broken. Innocent people, jailed twenty to thirty years ago, are now being freed based on forensic evidence re-assessed using modern techniques. People are being imprisoned for petty indiscretions like queue jumping and littering whilst violent criminals are allowed to go free due to technicalities, or a lack of ‘the right kind of evidence’. There are more and more cases of violence among youths, with the authorities powerless to doing anything about it. The judges are inept, the lawyers corrupt. The legal system is in dire need of a complete overhaul.

 An extreme view, to be sure, but one that many law abiding citizens share across the country. One also that is explored in Gary F Gray’s latest movie. Gray has explored similar themes before. His 1995 movie The Negotiator told the story of a cop who was told about a conspiracy involving several of his colleagues, and was subsequently framed in an attempt to discredit him, and hide the truth. He had no choice but to take the law into his own hands.

 In Law Abiding Citizen, another man feels compelled to do the same. Gerard Butler is Clyde Shelton. A mild mannered family man, his world is turned upside down when he is attacked, and his wife and daughter murdered during a random home invasion. Shelton is devastated. The perpetrators are caught, but when the court case comes around the district attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) doesn’t want to take it to trial. Considering Shelton’s testimony to be useless, due to his blacking out during the attack, Rice doesn’t want to lose the case and risk the blot on his outstanding prosecution record. Instead, he makes a plea bargain with one of the defendants, who gives up his partner in return for immunity. Shelton is devastated that justice has not been served, whilst Foxx considers it a job well done.

 Ten years later, the convicted attacker is due for execution via lethal injection. Someone however intervenes, and ensures the execution is as painful as possible. Then the defendant who was given immunity is found dead, having been tortured. Shelton is arrested, and goes willingly. He wants to make some deals of his own with the DA, and with ten years planning behind him aims to make the stakes as high as possible. Despite being safely under lock and key, Shelton begins to wreak revenge on the justice system, and the legal wranglers he holds responsible for the injustice he suffered all those years ago.

 There’s a deep message at the heart of Law Abiding Citizen, about how today’s legal system is flawed, that the people with the legal power in America don’t necessarily put the interests of the victims above their own, and asks how criminals known to be guilty are allowed freedom to re-offend over and over again. Unfortunately, this message is very well hidden. There’s one scene, set in the courtroom, where Gerard Butler’s character uses the flawed bail system to successfully demonstrate how stupid the legal system really is.

 This one scene has more resonance, and intelligent argument, than the rest of the movie altogether. What is actually on offer is trash. Entertaining trash to be sure, but trash nonetheless. The concept of the movie isn’t intrinsically flawed, and if the methods used by Shelton to strike vengeance on the legal system and lay bare the problems that lie within had been cleverly written, it could have been great.

 Instead, the plot goes from silly, to ridiculous, to downright ludicrous. Character motivations are sketchy, with some completely nonsensical methods employed by both Shelton and the DA to reach their goals. We don’t find out how the protagonist has set up the various traps and events until the climax, and when we do it feels like a cop out.

 The frankly dumb plot elements aren’t helped by some lousy acting. Butler shows two facial expressions, distraught and smug, with very little nuance in-between. Worse, though, is Academy Award winner Foxx, who really should know better. Seemingly on autopilot for the duration of the movie, he looks like an actor out for a paycheck.

 Some of the shock violent moments are entertaining in their over the top, cartoonish way, and there are some genuine laugh out loud moments. It’s not an unwatchable movie, and falls into that ‘so bad it’s good’ category. I really liked The Negotiator, but Gray clearly had a weaker script to work with this time around. Furthermore, Foxx and Butler are no Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey.

 Watch Law Abiding Citizen by all means, but wait for the DVD, grab some friends and some beer, and have a laugh with it. Oh, and check your IQ, and any sense of logic, at the door.

Law Abiding Citizen opens in the UK this Friday 27th November, and is at theatres nationwide in the US now.

 Bazmann – You can now follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

Our friend James Kleinmann has been at it again and this time has scored an interview with lead actor, Gerard Butler from his new movie, Law Abiding Citizen which is out next Friday (27th November) in UK Cinemas.

Synopsis: Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is an honest, upstanding family man.  Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) is an ambitious young prosecutor working for a safer Philadelphia.

When Clyde’s wife and young daughter are brutally murdered, Nick is assigned to the case.  On the verge of sentencing, Nick sensationally cuts a deal with one of the killers, sparing him from death row.

Ten years later, the man who got away with murder is found dead.  Clyde Shelton coolly admits his guilt before issuing a warning to Nick; either fix the flawed justice system that failed his family or key players in the trial will pay the price.

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/law_abiding_citizen/butler_mono.mp3"] Interview with Gerard Butler: [/gplayer]

This week sees the release of Law Abiding Citizen. The story of a man, played by Gerard Butler, who is forced to watch his family murdered. When the District Attorney makes a shady deal with the defendants, Butler takes matters into his own hands.
 
The director is F. Gary Gray. You may not recognise the name, but he has directed a tense thriller before, again about a man taking justice into his own hands. Starring the then dream partnership of Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson, let’s take a look at 1998′s The Negotiator.
 
As so often happens, there were a couple of movies on the same subject released around the same time, namely hostage negotiators. The other in this case was the Eddie Murphy vehicle, 1997′s Metro. Metro wasn’t very good, but ironically turned out to be, barring Bowfinger, his best movie for years to come.
 
At the time, the casting of Jackson and Spacey was huge. Jackson was coming off of his seminal Pulp Fiction performance, A Time to Kill (with Spacey), and Jackie Brown. Spacey had put in two amazing performances in two amazing films. His John Doe in Seven, though appearing for less than thirty minutes was mesmerising. And his role as Verbal Kint in the brilliant The Usual Suspects was nothing short of masterful. Two great actors at the top of their game,the upcoming face off was likened to Robert De Niro and Al Pacino squaring off over a cup of coffee in Heat.
 
The Negotiator starts with Samuel L Jackson’s negotiator, Danny Roman, one of the best in the business. We witness him at work, and discover he is very effective, but with a habit of doing crazy things to get the job done. His friend in the force, Nate Roenick (CSI’s Jim Brass) confides in Roman that internal affairs are investigating some cops that are stealing from the police pension fund. He arranges to meet Roman in secret to spill the details, but when Roman arrives, his friend has already been killed. The police turn up, and Roman discovers he has been framed.
 
He goes to police headquarters, to the office of one of the only men his friend named, Internal Affairs Division’s Inspector Niebaum. His badge already taken, and facing a long prison sentence, jackson finds himself in another hostage situation. This time, however, he’s taken the hostages. He knows the tricks, he can’t be talked down, and surrounded by the cops he called friends, doesn’t know who to trust. With the dirty cops in his unit part of the team trying to get him out, he knows if a breach is ordered he’s a dead man. His first demand? He will only talk to the other great Chicago negotiator, Chris Sabien (Spacey). He tells Sabien he wants him running the operation because when you can’t trust your friends, a stranger is the best friend you’ve got.
 
You can’t really compare this to the face-off in Heat. In Heat, De Niro and Pacino get equal screen time and plenty to do. Here Jackson, as the main protagonist, is running the show from start to finish. Spacey doesn’t turn up until a third of the way through, and though he does assert his authority both as an actor and the character, he isn’t given the meat of Jackson’s character. That said, both performances are great.
 
We know Jackson for his explosive delivery, but he shows a full range of emotions here. A story that effectively takes place in two rooms, the movie needs the showy performance of Jackson. Spacey, with nowhere near as much to work with, gives a much more nuanced performance, with a complete air of confidence. They are backed up a fine collection of supporting actors. Ron Rifkin, J T Walsh, David Morse, John Spencer (the West Wing’s Leo McGarry), and Paul Giamatti.
 
The movie itself is actually much better than i remember it. Even at nearly two and a half hours long, it never feels slow, some achievement for a dialogue heavy concept. The plot, whilst never genuinely gripping, manages to keep up the intensity and excitement. A hostage drama in the wrong hands could easily become boring, but a great job is done of keeping it a constantly changing situation. The power changes hands over the course of the movie between Roman, Sabien, and the guilty law enforcers who want to prevent Roman from uncovering the truth. The action, when it comes, is snappy and well put together. And comic relief is generously provided over the course of the siege by the excellent Paul Giamatti, as a small time crook caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
The Negotiator isn’t a great film, but it is very good. The story twists and conclusion are uninspired, but the performances of Jackson and Spacey, two of the finest actors of their generation elevate the movie above these concerns.
 
I wasn’t looking forward to Law Abiding Citizen before i watched The Negotiator. I worried that it would be a bit far-fetched and over the top. I’m more confident now i realise it is in safe hands, and i’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out in reviews this coming week.
 
The Negotiator is available now on DVD and Blu-Ray.
 
Law Abiding Citizen reaches theatres this Friday 16th October in the US. It will be released in the UK on Friday 27th November.
 
Bazmann

Here’s the new UK poster for Gerard Butler’s new movie, Law Abiding Citizen. The trailer for the movie came out recently and it looks like a great, gritty movie with a dark storyline. Jamie Foxx, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, and Leslie Bibb are also in the movie directed by F. Gary Gray. It’s out on the 27th November so not too long to wait now.

Synopsis: Law Abiding Citizen is a thriller about a brilliant sociopath who orchestrates a series of high-profile murders that grip the city of Philadelphia – all from inside his jail cell – and the prosecutor assigned to his case who realizes he is the only one who can end the reign of terror.

Click the poster to enlarge or check out the trailer here.

Source: Empire

***UPDATE*** – Here’s the other poster of release of Jamie Foxx. Click to enlarge.

A few days ago I added a new poster from Law Abiding Citizen. Today, we’ve got a new poster of Jamie Foxx (click to enlarge) and a trailer for the movie. From what I’ve just seen, it looks like it’s going to be a good’n! Watch it after the jump.

Synopsis: Law Abiding Citizen is a thriller about a brilliant sociopath who orchestrates a series of high-profile murders that grip the city of Philadelphia – all from inside his jail cell – and the prosecutor assigned to his case who realizes he is the only one who can end the reign of terror.