Column:
'Law Abiding Citizen' trailer kills the film
Published Oct. 30, 2009
At the end of October, the cineplex finds itself in an odd lull. Blockbuster season has been over a few weeks and Oscar season generally sweeps into theatres around November. This hole is often filled with horror movies, but what about the audience members who prefer not to pay money for experiences that will make them scream like small children? Or those of us who refuse to see the next “Saw” movie?
Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx’s new flick “Law Abiding Citizen” seemed like a quick fix to this conundrum. Not only are the actors ferociously likeable, but also the premise’s ideology was enough to pique a fair amount of interest in the film. The film starts with a sufficient kick, but eventually “Law Abiding Citizen” grows tired of being an innovating thriller and instead devolves into a bullet-riddled action movie cliché.
This premise itself is inherently awesome.
First we meet Clyde (Butler), a nice enough guy whose family is brutally murdered in front of his face. Then Nick (Foxx), a smooth talking prosecutor, steps in to let one of the murderers off with a measly five-year sentence. Naturally, this doesn’t set well with Clyde, who kills the murderer and proceeds to tear the justice system inside out.
Perhaps “Law Abiding Citizen” was doomed from the start. The foundation of the movie’s plotline might have been too multifaceted to fully flesh out for the director and writer, whose most successful credits are “The Italian Job” and “Ultraviolet,” respectively. The film starts out as a well-crafted cat-and-mouse game between the two leads and hits its high point in a wildly entertaining courtroom scene. Directly after this scene, the idea of proving the flaws of America’s justice system is abandoned and the focus is shifted to finding out how many people Clyde can kill.
Even charismatic actors such as Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx begin to wear thin throughout the duration of the film. When the film hits its stride, Butler has a malicious glint in his eye and Foxx provides a compelling and earnest counter-argument.
After the explosions start permeating the scenery, Butler’s bad American accent begins to grate and it becomes apparent Foxx’s performance has been nothing but a Denzel Washington impersonation. Butler still has time to stiffly emote at the screen, but the whole “jailed man still killing people” schtick quickly loses its novelty.
To be completely honest, the biggest problem hounding “Law Abiding Citizen” is the marketing campaign. The movie rests on the fact that Clyde is actually a secret government spy. Unfortunately, this secret has been proudly displayed in the trailers for the movie. The trailer ruins the movie!
When the major plot twist comes to fruition, the audience is already sitting there with their hands up saying “I saw this part already!” Three out of five trailers shown nowadays will give away the whole plot. If the audience already knows the whole story, why on Earth would they pay $10 to see it?