Review for Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen (R)

Release Date: October 16th
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Viola Davis
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

Law Abiding Citizen is one of those thrillers where you will most likely find yourself rooting for the alleged “bad guy” all the way until the end. It’s hard not to enjoy sweet revenge when someone who has been wronged brings it upon those who deserve it.

Gerard Butler stars as Clyde Shelton, a loving family man whose wife and daughter are murdered by two thugs who break into his home one night. Jamie Foxx plays Nick Rice, the Philadelphia district attorney handling Clyde’s case. Nick arranges a plea-bargain with Darby--the man most responsible for the murders—in order to maintain his 96 percent conviction record. It entails a testimony against his accomplice, which will result in a short-term jail sentence for Darby while the other man receives the death sentence. Nick justifies the plea bargain by telling Clyde that both men could walk free without the testimony. However, this isn’t good enough for Clyde and he develops resentment towards Nick for making a deal with a murderer.

Ten years pass by for Clyde to develop his ingenious plan to bring justice upon the two guilty men as well as several people involved with the case and succeed where the judicial system has ultimately failed.
The murder of Darby—the scumbag that pretty much gets off scot-free--is like watching the movie “Hostel” all over again, except with a lot less gore. It’s violent and sadistic but you know you’ll be smiling because he deserves it. After being arrested, Clyde plays a sort of cat-and-mouse game with Nick, offering ridiculous deals he must come to terms with if he wants Clyde to reveal the locations of people whose lives are still in danger even though he is locked up. He asks for a therapeutic bed for his cell in turn for his confession, a steak dinner and his ipod in turn for the location of the killers’ criminal attorney who is not quite dead yet—propositions that make Clyde seem crazy but end up having an actual purpose to them. Even after being put in solitary confinement, judges and lawyers are still dropping dead and it makes you wonder how talented this guy has to be to still be able to kill people from behind solid bars.

The great thing about this movie is that Clyde’s way of vengeance isn’t cliché. Meaning he’s not walking around in a leather jacket with a big shotgun kicking in doors and putting bullets in the head of every person who has pissed him off. His tactics include obvious effort and intelligence. One could only hope so given he’s had ten full years to plan this whole thing out.

The worst part was the relationship between Clyde and Nick. It wasn’t as evolved as it should have been. I mean, they have a few short conversations when Nick questions him asking him for a confession, threatening him if he ever touches his family, etc. But there wasn’t any real emotion there, no torment between the two of them. The good guy-psycho relationship in movies likes this is what makes it strong. It seemed like any time things would get too intense Nick would just walk out of the room and the conversation would be over, not even giving enough of a chance for Clyde to get inside his head. In reality, of course, that would be the smart thing to do but in movies it is a factor that leads to boredom.

As far as the acting goes, Butler’s charisma made his role of a sadistic serial killer a likable one. The man can act, although he didn’t do too well of a job hiding his native Scottish accent in this one. This was not exactly an award-winning performance for Foxx. At times he just seemed bored, but his character wasn’t exactly a complex one to begin with.

The movie definitely brings suspense until it nears the end when you finally find out how Clyde has been managing to pull off his seemingly impossible murders from behind bars. Then you’ll probably just be asking yourself “Really? How did these dumb lawyers not think of that three murders ago?”

Law Abiding Citizen is definitely worth a watch. You might be battling with yourself as to whose side you should actually be on, but the murders, explosions, and suspense is enough to keep anyone entertained.

Check out the trailer below:

Review for The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying (PG-13)

Release Date: October 2nd
Director: Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Rob Lowe, Jeffrey Tambor
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Aside from the obvious humor that comes with a story about people that can’t lie, deeper themes like the fact that religion and manners cannot exist without lies come to the surface in this film.

Ricky Gervais plays Mark, an unattractive man who is disliked by co-workers and is fired from his job at a company that can only produce movies about facts and history because they are incapable of creating fiction. He lives in a world where Pepsi ads say things like “Pepsi: When They’re Out of Coke” and where hospices are called “A Sad Place Where Homeless Old People Come to Die.” Nobody in this world is capable of lying—they are not even aware that the concept of lying could possibly exist. Therefore, they have no movies with fictional stories or comedy, no religion, and everyone believes everything other people say to them.

Mark goes on a blind date with Anna, played by Jennifer Garner, and immediately upon meeting him she tells him that she doesn’t find him attractive, there is no possibility of sex, and there probably won’t be another date because he is too short and fat to be a good genetic match for her if they ever had children. Talk about bruising the ego. The funny thing is that no one gets horribly offended by anything because well, if you’re used to hearing the harsh truth all the time you probably become immune to it. About a half hour into the movie Mark discovers his newfound ability to lie when he is at the bank and lies about how much money is in his account. Of course, the banker believes him thinking there is something wrong with the computers and hands him more money than he has in his account. With this new ability he decides to test it out on his friend and a few other people to come to realize that no matter how ridiculous of a statement he makes to them about himself, they will believe him every time. He uses this ability to get his job back, score another date with Anna, and to comfort his dying mother. However, the biggest lie he tells about the afterlife in order to comfort his mother foreshadows the concept of religion. Soon he becomes a celebrity because everyone wants to know about what he ultimately describes as heaven and the “man in the sky.”

The movie has many different elements to it. It is remarkably funny, sad at some points, and it makes you realize that lying is a huge part of everyday life. Sometimes it’s abused and other times it’s used to entertain and to maintain good manners.

Being the only man with this ability, Mark can make people believe anything he wants, but he does hold back more than any normal person would. Of course he gets himself the big house and expensive things, who wouldn’t? But he holds back with Anna, and that is where the romantic part comes in. Mark seems to wrestle with the fact that although lying has gotten him things like money, a big house, and even celebrity status, it still can’t get him the girl. Sure he can make up a lie similar to one he used on a random girl he passed on the street earlier in the movie and say something like, “The world will end if we don’t get married right now.” But he doesn’t, and that is what is likable about his character—the only man on earth that can lie and he chooses to be an honest one with what he wants most.

Gervais’s witty personality was perfect for this part. He is the type of guy that is funny without even trying to be and he is enjoyable to watch. Garner also played the part of a ditzy brunette with a heart that is often hidden by her conceitedness pretty well. However, it was hard not to hate her character from the beginning all the way to the end. Makes you wonder whether or not Mark’s heartache is really worth a girl that calls him a fat guy with a snub nose about fifteen times throughout the movie.

The movie also includes very short appearances from known actors like Jason Bateman and Edward Norton which kind of made me think, “Hey I had no idea they were in this movie, oh wait, probably because they only have about a two minute on-screen appearance.” A little random but I know there are people who like to point their fingers at the screen and say things like “Hey it’s that guy..from that other movie..you know!” I would have to say this movie is worth the ten to eleven ridiculous dollars it costs to go to the theater.


Check out the trailer below: