Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 American vigilante action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray, written by Kurt Wimmer, and starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler (who also co-produced). The film takes place in Philadelphia, telling the story of a man who seeks justice by targeting not only his family's killer but also those who have supported a corrupt criminal justice system. Law Abiding Citizen was filmed on location in Philadelphia and released theatrically by Overture Films in North America on October 16, 2009.
The film grossed $127.9 million worldwide but received generally negative reviews from critics. Despite this, it was nominated for a Saturn Award as the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film of the year, as well as NAACP Image Award nominations for both Foxx (Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture) and Gray (Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture).
During a home invasion, engineer Clyde Shelton is forced to witness the murders of his wife and daughter. Unwilling to risk lowering his high conviction rate, prosecutor Nick Rice makes a plea deal with the perpetrator, Clarence Darby; Darby will testify against his accomplice Rupert Ames (who is guilty of felony murder), while Darby pleads guilty to third-degree murder and receives a sentence of no more than three years.
10 years later, Ames' execution via lethal injection unexpectedly results in a painful death. Evidence of tampering implicates Darby, who is warned by an anonymous caller and instructed to flee to a deserted warehouse. The caller, revealed to be Clyde, then poses as a police officer to confront him. In the struggle, Darby attempts to shoot Clyde with his own weapon but is paralyzed with tetrodotoxin-coated spikes. Clyde then records himself dismembering and killing Darby. Clyde is arrested after Darby's remains are found on property he owns and represents himself at his bail hearing, where he accuses presiding Judge Laura Burch of being too easily swayed and eager to release potential criminals.
After giving Nick his confession, Clyde demands a steak lunch from Del Frisco's and his iPod be delivered to his prison cell in exchange for the location of Darby's now-missing lawyer, Bill Reynolds. Nick agrees, but Reynolds dies when a precisely-timed oxygen device runs out. Meanwhile, Clyde kills his cellmate, forcing the warden to move him to solitary confinement.
Suspicious of Clyde's skill set, Nick and District Attorney Jonas Cantrell meet Bray, a CIA contact who divulges that Clyde worked for the agency specializing in unorthodox assassinations and suggests that the only way to stop Clyde is to kill him. Judge Burch is later killed by an explosive hidden in her cell phone during a meeting with Nick and Cantrell. Clyde explains that the murders are not about revenge, but the failures of the justice system, and tells Nick that he will end the killings by 6:00 a.m. the following day if he is released and all charges against him are dropped.
Nick takes precautionary measures instead, moving his entire team to the prison to work throughout the night. After Clyde's deadline passes without incident, Nick releases his team. While walking to his car, six attorneys from Cantrell's office, including Nick's assistant Sarah Lowell, are killed in car bombings. While leaving Sarah's funeral, Cantrell and his 2-man security detail are killed by a weaponized bomb disposal robot armed with ATR and a missile. Nick prepares to resign, but the irate mayor instead promotes Nick to acting District Attorney and locks the city down.
Nick learns that Clyde owns a building near the prison. He and Homicide Detective Dunnigan discover a tunnel inside that leads to a cache of guns, disguises, and other equipment below the solitary confinement cells, with secret entrances to each cell. Nick realizes that Clyde intentionally sought solitary confinement, allowing him to leave the prison undetected. Evidence points to Clyde's next target, City Hall, where the mayor is holding an emergency meeting. Nick and his men fail to find Clyde, instead discovering a suitcase bomb loaded with napalm planted in the room below the meeting.
Clyde returns to his cell and finds Nick, who tells him he's made his point and urges him not to activate the suitcase bomb; Clyde does so anyway. Nick leaves, and upon hearing the detonator's ringtone, Clyde discovers the bomb hidden under his cot. Clyde briefly smiles and sits on his bed, looking at his daughter's bracelet as the bomb explodes.
At the conclusion, Nick, officially the District Attorney of Philadelphia, joins his wife at their daughter's cello recital.
In addition, Viola Davis appears as the Mayor of Philadelphia.
Gerard Butler was initially signed on to play the prosecuting attorney, while Jamie Foxx was the criminal mastermind operating from inside prison, a reversal of their roles in the final version.
Frank Darabont was expected to direct the film, but he left the production due to creative differences with the producers.
Filming began on January 17, 2009, and took place in and around Philadelphia. Filming locations included Philadelphia's City Hall, Laurel Hill Cemetery and the now closed Holmesburg Prison. Holmesburg's "Thunderdome command center" is quite evident in the movie.
The film was edited after being threatened with an NC-17 rating for violence, with the full version released unrated on Blu-ray.
The score to Law Abiding Citizen was composed by Brian Tyler, who recorded his score with a 52-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage with help from Kieron Charlesworth. The film also uses "Eminence Front" by The Who and "Engine No. 9" by Deftones on Clyde's iPod while he is eating his steak in his cell. While Clyde calls Darby to help him 'escape' the police after Ames' execution, "Bloodline" by Slayer is Darby's ringer. The tune at the end for closing credits is "Sin's A Good Man's Brother" by Grand Funk Railroad.
The film was released theatrically on October 16, 2009, in the United States. The first theatrical trailer was released on August 14, 2009, and was attached to District 9.
The premiere was held on November 15, 2009, at the Cineworld complex in Glasgow, Butler's hometown. Many British tabloids labelled the event as the "Homecoming Premiere", about the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations.
Law Abiding Citizen grossed $73.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $54.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $127.9 million.
The film took second place in its opening weekend, with $21 million, behind Where the Wild Things Are. It went on to gross $126.6 million in total worldwide.
Law Abiding Citizen received generally negative reviews from critics, with many praising its premise and central performance while criticising its execution, logic and moral stance.
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 26% of 162 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Unnecessarily violent and unflinchingly absurd, Law Abiding Citizen is plagued by subpar acting and a story that defies reason." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavourable reviews".
In his review for the Chicago Sun Times, Roger Ebert said, "Law Abiding Citizen is the kind of movie you will like more at the time than in retrospect." He then went on to say, "Still, there's something to be said for a movie you like well enough at the time." Ebert rated the film three out of four stars.
In May 2022, it was announced that a standalone sequel was in development. Kurt Wimmer was hired to return to his role as screenwriter, while Gerard Butler will serve as producer alongside Alan Siegel, Lucas Foster, Rob Paris, and Mike Witherill. Foster stated in his returning role as a producer that the studios look forward to "revisit[ing] these great characters" stating that the premise "seems even more relevant today than when...the original film" was released. The filmmaker stated: "WeâÂÂre going to blow your mind⦠again." While the plot has not been revealed, Paris and Witherill jointly stated that the creatives involved, see the movie as a "franchise opportunit[y]." The project will be a joint-venture production between G-Base Productions, Rivulet Films, Warp Films, and Village Roadshow Pictures.