Law Abiding Citizen
Law Abiding Citizen (mild spoilers): when his wife and kid are murdered and the legal system fails him, a disgruntled everyman with nothing to lose spends years engineering his quasi-legal revenge. Gerrard Butler (Shut up, Butt wad), WTF are you doing man? You’re all over the place and why the fuck did your character get nude when you were arrested? The Fantastic Mr Foxx is OK, doing what he does (normal guy in a moral quandary) but his character’s role is unbelievably wonky: supposed to be a prosecutor, but does loads of detective work. The film starts off interesting – and the opening in particular is powerfully violent – the set-up is theatrically gruesome, but once Butler is in prison it turns absolutely ridiculous – and when you hear about his previous employment it’s like being slapped in the face with a big silly stick. However, it’s quite funny and enjoyable despite being so bizarrely cheesy and shockingly stupid. Deliberately 18-rated, over-the-top B-movie with an A-list cast.
Score: 4/10
Filmed at the jail literally a minute away from my house. Sadly, that’s all I really have to say about this movie because it’s pretty bad. Good review.
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Ha ha ha ha – cool claim to Hollywood fame though!
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Yep, this is one bad film. Felt like it was trying to be a weirdly extreme version of Dexter. Only with as much finesse as the final couple of seasons of Dexter.
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Funny story. I accidentally strung up this film instead of where the wild things are and hit play. Didn’t realize it until a furious mother came out and started screaming that her children just witnessed rape and murder. That wasn’t fun.
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Ouch, you don’t exactly get a long heads up at the start of this.
Annnnnddd ACTION… Scene 1: Rape wife, kill child, kill wife.
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Haven’t seen this is a while, but I think my thoughts were along the same lines as yours here. Fun, a bit over-the-top and messy at times. Great review!
Oh, and hello to Jason Isaacs.
Adam.
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Ha ha ha – the Wittertainer’s secret welcome! I’m actually a loooong way behind the podcasts, currently at Filth/Sunshine on Leith (and last few mentions of the beloved Cruise – what a splendid time we had!).
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I will cherish my Wittertainment cruise ticket stub for a lifetime!
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It is implausibility after implausibility in Law Abiding Citizen. I hated it! Glad my thoughts were pretty much echoed by you despite you finding some entertainment value. I’m not sure Butler’s action-man career has really taken off and I’m not sure it ever will.
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I always get the feeling that he’s doing it too tongue-in-cheek / knowingly when he’s trying to do action, especially in this – has a weird shit-eating grin on his face for the duration.
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Nice nod to wittertainment there man. And yes, hello to Jason Isaacs!
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Lest we forget the honourable Michael Sheen and good substitute David Morrissey!
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