Law Abiding Citizen
Short description
Clyde Shelton is an ordinary family man in Philadelphia whose life is shattered when two intruders break into his home, killing his wife and daughter and leaving him badly wounded. The case against the attackers is handled by Nick Rice, an ambitious prosecutor who cares above all about keeping his conviction record intact. Rather than risk a trial, Rice offers the chief offender a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony against his accomplice, and the man who carried out the killings walks away with a light punishment. Shelton, who had trusted the legal system, feels betrayed by the deal.
Ten years later, Shelton begins a campaign of retribution directed not only at the freed killer but also at Rice and everyone else connected to the agreement. His actions expand beyond the individuals involved and unsettle the city, turning his grievance against the justice system into a wider conflict with the prosecutor who let it happen.
F. Gary Gray directed the film, which was written by Kurt Wimmer and produced by Lucas Foster, Wimmer and Gerard Butler. It sits between Gray's Be Cool and Straight Outta Compton in his filmography. Jamie Foxx plays Rice and Butler plays Shelton, with supporting roles from Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb and Michael Irby. Made for about 53 million dollars, it took roughly 128 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.4/10 from around 344,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.4/10 from about 5,900 votes, while its critics' rating stands at 4.6/10 from 162 reviews, a clear gap between professional and audience response.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film premiered in Gerard Butler’s homeland at the Cineworld multiplex in Glasgow, Scotland, which is considered the tallest cinema in the world and one of the busiest in the entire United Kingdom.
- Initially, Jamie Foxx was planned to play the role of Shelton, and Gerard Butler – the role of Rice. But then Butler wanted to play the villain, and Foxx suggested they switch roles.
- Filming took place in Philadelphia and its surroundings, including the current city hall and the old Broadmeadows city prison. The prison was closed in 1998 and has since been used primarily as storage space. The former prison cafeteria was converted into a modern police station with rows of desks and all other furnishings.
- At one of the early stages of the project's production, the director's position was offered to Frank Darabont, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was to play one of the roles.
- The film's director, F. Gary Gray, appears in a cameo as a police detective handing Detective Gartse a package of evidence.
- The shots of a wobbling shopping cart wheel carrying food (and "weapons") for Clyde Shelton are a tribute to the film "The Rock" (1996), where terrorists transport weapons down a prison corridor on a similar cart in Alcatraz.
- Darby's ringtone is the song "Bloodline" by Slayer.
- When Darby, led by Clyde via mobile phone, runs to the police car, smoke is coming from the exhaust pipe, meaning the car is running. Getting into the car, Darby turns on the ignition.
- The villainous "WALL-E," while shooting at the lead "Tahoe," first smashes the wide rear window to pieces, but in the following shots, the glass self-repairs.
- In the film, the hero played by Gerard Butler states the coordinates of the location where Darby's lawyer is: 39°57′ N and 75°10′ W, and a helicopter arrives at some vacant lot. In reality, the location with those coordinates is in the very center of Philadelphia at the intersection of Moravian St. and S 18th St., a block from Rittenhouse Square.
- After receiving the coordinates of the buried lawyer, the detectives get into a helicopter with tail number N95PD, fly in the air on N94PD, and land again on N95PD.
- Michael Nutter, the mayor of Philadelphia, appears in a small cameo as a man holding a bible when Jamie Foxx's character takes the oath as a prosecutor.
- The film frequently quotes the famous military writer and theorist Carl von Clausewitz.
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