Law Abiding Citizen

Say what you will about the "Saw" movies. At least they know what kind of audience they're trying to please and what kind of message they're sending with their story content.

And at least they're more coherently, more tightly plotted than this alleged revenge-thriller, which fuses elements from so-called "torture-porn" movies like "Saw" onto paranoia thrillers like "Eagle Eye." And then it throws in some "Law & Order" legal maneuverings for good measure.

The resulting film is a confused, contrived mess that would be laughable if it weren't so noxious and mean-spirited.

Also, the film sends one of the all-time worst messages about the justice system. Like "Death Wish" and its ilk, this movie appears to argue that vigilantism and taking matters into your own hands is not only acceptable but that it may be the right thing to do in certain circumstances.

Jamie Foxx stars as Nick Rice, a Philadelphia district attorney who's now haunted by a case from his past. To save his nearly perfect conviction rate, he once allowed a rapist-murderer, Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte), to plead guilty to lesser charges.

So now the sole survivor of that attack, an inventor named Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler), is exacting his revenge.

First, he kills the criminals in spectacular — even gruesome — fashion. (He sabotages the execution of one and basically butchers the other.)

But then the surprisingly vindictive and resourceful Clyde takes one step further, by eliminating anyone who was involved in the original plea deal. That includes lawyers and judges, and it means Nick may be his next target.

Director F. Gary Gray and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer make several storytelling mistakes and the plot is filled with ill-advised character developments.

For one thing, Butler's grieving father and husband almost comes off better, more sympathetically than Foxx's self-involved, negligent father character. That shouldn't be happening here.

"Law Abiding Citizen" is rated R and features strong and disturbing violent content (shootings, stabbings, a scene depicting an execution, explosive mayhem, and violence against women and children), graphic gory and bloody imagery, strong sexual profanity, drug use and references (narcotics, as well as hypodermic needles), a scene depicting rape and sexual assault, a brief torture sequence (a vivisection), suggestive references and talk, derogatory language and slurs, and brief partial male and female nudity. Running time: 108 minutes.

e-mail: jeff@desnews.com