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Law Abiding Citizen

Play trailer 2:25 Poster for Law Abiding Citizen R Released Oct 16, 2009 1h 48m Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
26% Tomatometer 162 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Clyde Shelton is an honorable family man, until the day his wife and daughter are murdered in a home invasion. He hopes for justice, but a rising prosecutor named Nick Rice cuts a deal with one of the killers in exchange for testimony. Ten years later, that man is found dead.
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Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen

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Critics Consensus

Unnecessarily violent and unflinchingly absurd, Law Abiding Citizen is plagued by subpar acting and a story that defies reason.

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Critics Reviews

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Keith Uhlich Time Out It's basically Saw with Gerard Butler as Jigsaw, which means he's as righteous of body as he is of mind. Rated: 2/5 Jan 6, 2021 Full Review Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online There were surprises, twists and turns and could get graphic at times, but overall the movie was fast-paced, well performed, and kept your attention until the very end. Rated: B+ Sep 12, 2017 Full Review Giles Hardie Sydney Morning Herald For large portions of Law Abiding Citizen we're not sure who is going to be the winner here, nor who we want to be, and though it won't make for much of a date flick, as far as intelligent action flicks go, it gets two big burly thumbs up. Rated: 4/5 Jan 30, 2010 Full Review Jeff Beck The Blu Spot What we end up with here is about two-thirds of a good film that's regrettably ruined by some poor writing in the third act. Rated: 3/5 Jul 9, 2025 Full Review Ezequiel Boetti EscribiendoCine Reassuring and too conservative... [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 4/10 Aug 9, 2024 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Filled with equal parts bloody carnage and plot holes, this vigilante yarn, more concerned with explosions and bloodletting than voicing its potential social commentary, unravels into a disorganized tangle Rated: 2/4 Aug 30, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Mike L This was a brilliant plot for a movie. I do feel that it seems like they ran out of money or time and wrapped it up with a really awkward ending. The acting was solid and Butler is great in the film- although some parts seem pretty random and unnecessary. It is interesting how far most people were okay with a person going if his family had been wronged. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/03/25 Full Review Leaburn O It started pretty well but was explosively destroyed the inanity of the final half hour. Incredibly corny and badly acted towards the end too. Watched on Amazon Prime. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/27/25 Full Review Audience Member For 3/4 of the movie I felt this was going to be one of my absolute favorite movies ever. The way the plot started killing everybody with no care about legal morality and politically correct socially acceptable bigotry, it felt so refreshing and authentic, just what REAL PEOPLE with REAL LIVES would wish that those dirty corrupts have coming. But either the production, direction or writers chickened out and the last fourth is THE ONE SINGLE MOST PATHETIC; MOST DISGUSTING AND DESPICABLE CRAP THAT I'VE EVER AND I REALLY MEAN E-V-E-R SEEN. Well I dont particularly like Foxx to begin with, his face and voice make me wanna punch the display in every movie where I saw him. But in this movie his character represents ALL what I so deeply want to see GONE FOREVER in modern "justice" system. FOREVER. And yet [SPOILER WARNING] at the end this despicable pos oversmarts the super mega ultra genius who is a wonderful actor AND a wonderful character!? WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????? WHO TF thought that this was a good idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????? WHY did they think that ANYBODY with a brain and a heart would EVER rather identify in Foxx's character than in Butler's one? LOSERS! STOP MAKING STORIES IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE BALLS TO LET GO OF YOUR MORAL COWARDICE AND TAKE THE PREMISE TO THE VERY END! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/25 Full Review Om P One of my favorite movies. You can literally see how much thought they put in to this movie and how the cast and crew worked on it. It's a great commentary of our justice system and how it actually doesn't provide adequate justice. All the critics and others giving bad review failed to grasp the core concept. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/07/25 Full Review Dan B The pacing is ok. But the story is ridiculous. And acting at points is off. The whole movie doesn't add up. Skip this one, you won't miss a thing. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/02/25 Full Review Obi-wan K Ultimate Ragebait 🥲🥀 Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/21/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Law Abiding Citizen

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Movie Info

Synopsis Clyde Shelton is an honorable family man, until the day his wife and daughter are murdered in a home invasion. He hopes for justice, but a rising prosecutor named Nick Rice cuts a deal with one of the killers in exchange for testimony. Ten years later, that man is found dead.
Director
F. Gary Gray
Producer
Lucas Foster, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, Kurt Wimmer, Robert Katz
Screenwriter
Kurt Wimmer
Distributor
Overture Films
Production Co
Warp Films
Rating
R (Rape|Pervasive Language|Strong Bloody Brutal Violence|Torture)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 16, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 5, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$73.3M
Runtime
1h 48m
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