Report on law abiding citizen

1. Introduction

The movie “Law Abiding Citizen” changes our perception of the legal process and that process eventually changes to conform to our expectations. The scenario of the blockbuster movie, Law Abiding Citizen, can be explained by these simple questions. What would you do if a ruthless killer broke into your home and killed your family right before your eyes, then bargained with the prosecutor to receive only three years punishment in exchange for testifying against his innocent accomplice? Would you accept this chain of events as a just system of punishment, or would you go rogue\unprincipled and mete out your own justice, killing the defendants and even the members of the criminal system who encouraged the practice? This is what which happened in this movie.

The basic idea was that a man who had been betrayed by the system decided to teach the system a lesson—from inside jail. The film also takes an incriminating look at the inconsistencies of an overloaded justice system. If I am a regular person and some very wrong happened to people whom I care than I would want pure justice. Clyde Shelton (hero in this movie) doesn’t get justice and he makes a decision to take matters into his own hands. He’s doing what he thinks is right, what he thinks is honorable. In short the Plea-negotiation has the benefits and demerits but there is a need to consider these demerits, if we want to improve the judicial justice system as if it is not addressed properly than there can happen a very dangerous situation.

1.1 The film plot

Clyde Shelton is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice, a hotshot young Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Over his objections, Nick is forced by his boss to offer one of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. Fast forward ten years. The man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde Shelton coolly admits his guilt. Then he issues a warning to Nick: Either fixes the flawed justice system that failed his family, or key players in the trial will die. Soon Shelton follows through on his threats, orchestrating from his jail cell a string of spectacularly diabolical assassinations that can be neither predicted nor prevented. Philadelphia is gripped with fear as Shelton's high-profile targets are slain one after another and the authorities are powerless to halt his reign of terror. Only Nick can stop the killing, and to do so he must outwit this brilliant sociopath in a harrowing contest of wills in which even the smallest misstep means death. With his own family now in Shelton's crosshairs, Nick finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary who seems always to be one step ahead.

1.2 Production

1.2.1 Director

Felix Gary Gray (born July 17, 1969) is an American music, video and film director. Gray directed Friday, Set It Off and The Negotiator as well as the remake of The Italian Job. His next film was the thriller Law Abiding Citizen, starring Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. Scripted by Kurt Wilmer, it grossed over $100 million dollars worldwide. Gary is also responsible for directing many music videos.

1.2.2 Screen play

Kurt Wimmer (born 1964) is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He attended the University of South Florida and graduated with a BFA degree in Art History. He then moved to Los Angeles where he worked for 12 years as a screenwriter before making his 2002 film, Equilibrium.

1.2.3 Leading role

Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). In 2007, he appeared in Nim's Island (2008) and RocknRolla (2008), and recently completed the new Mark Neveldine / Brian Taylor film, Gamer (2009). His latest film isThe Ugly Truth (2009).

1.2.4 Supporting roles

Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967) known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, stand-up comedian, singer-songwriter, musician, and talk radio host..

Christian Stolte (born October 16, 1962) is a Chicago-based American actor. He played corrections officer Keith Stolte on the show Prison Break and Charles Makley on Public Enemies. He played Clarence Darby in the movie Law Abiding Citizen

2. Method

2.1 Group reviews

We three friends watched this movie very deeply. Discuss all the important happenings in the movie. Discuss the main theme for which the movie is directed and how it is involved in the society and affecting the people. No doubt it is very important issue i.e.; the flaws in the judicial justice system.

2.2 Critic reviews

Producer Lucas Foster worked with screenwriter Kurt Wimmer to develop the initial script. “The basic idea was that a man who had been betrayed by the system decided to teach the system a lesson—from inside jail.” Foster says that, “We want to believe that when someone is arrested and they’re put into the System, that’s more or less the end of it. Whatever the outcome, proven innocent or proven guilty, that’s the end of the story. In our movie, it’s just the beginning.”