The possibility of it being another Taken, Gerard Butler’s recent attempt at starring in every movie released this fall – Law Abiding Citizen – looked the part of revenge thriller with a twist. The one film I was looking forward to amongst recent releases (at least until Pirate Radio comes out), but Threedonia friend and Internet flick-o-phile Christian Toto begs to differ.
Gerard Butler, the vigilante at the heart of the new thriller “Law Abiding Citizen,” makes it all but impossible for audiences to rally around him.
To say precisely why would be to spoil elements of the film, but “Citizen’s” problems don’t stop with an inability to connect with Butler’s anti-hero.
The new film proves dumber than a Jim Carrey comedy, more moronic than “Jumper” and “Push” combined.
Who writes this stuff? And what on earth is Jamie Foxx doing wasting his Oscar cred in such shlop?
Because Foxx, much like Butler, is in a town where proper roles aren’t available – at least ones that pay money. It’s Russell Crowe syndrome, where masculine men are forced to gain weight (The Insider) , grow hair and quit bathing (State of Play) or play against type (Body of Lies) to do any role set past 1950. Butler should be a star of epic proportions thanks to his turn as the virtuous and charismatic King Leonidas in 300. Instead, he’s relegated to rom-com status playing second fiddle to Katherine Heigel, B-grade video-game romps with Ludacris and now, according to Toto, a boilerplate non-thriller and revenge flick with no one to root for. I’d hate to see the scripts he rejected.
Looking for logic in this picture is like looking for sexy pictures in the Lands’ End winter catalog. So elaborate is the series of booby traps, so extravagant the secret chambers, so precisely timed the gizmos and so feverish Clyde’s vows to terrorize his way to justice that I kept waiting for the giant chandelier to crash on Foxx’s head.
That might be worth paying to see.
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Kyle out-funnies me again … oh, well.
Thanks for the link. I was rarin’ for another “Taken,” but I got … nah, too easy.
Usuaully, between Nolte, Smith and you, we get three different takes on a particular movie, but Kyle’s review and your review were essentially the same in terms of criticism. A bit unusual but probably not a coincidence given the quality of film out there right now.
I wonder if it’s as bad as Butler’s Beowulf movie that had the liberal “poor misunderstood Grendel” theme.
Oh god I remember that. Man, fuck Neil Gaiman.
That Beowulf and Grendel movie was a heartbreaker. The awful thing was that, in terms of costuming and props, it was one of the best Viking Age (actually pre-Viking) movies ever made. But it was entirely a deconstruction–painting the Danes as Nazis.
After I watched it, I had to put in The 13th Warrior to wash the taste out of my mouth. The costumes stunk in that movie, but at least it was about a hero who believedin what he was doing.
I will most likely see it. I don’t like Jamie Foxx and I have also heard good things about it soo…..maybe save it for the Blue Ray. Its too bad though. This was Gerry’s first movie from his company Evil Twins.
I hope they give Butler a shot at James Bond.