Movie Summary of Law Abiding Citizen by Michael the Moviegoer.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN = zero stars
“More Laughs Than Most Comedies”
Jamie Foxx returns to comedy in the hilarious “Law Abiding Citizen”, a “Naked Gun”-style parody of psychological crime thrillers. The only thing missing here is Leslie Nielsen.
Foxx plays a district attorney prosecuting a murderer who is already in prison but somehow manages to continue his killing spree throughout the city. The killer is played by Gerard Butler who brilliantly pokes fun at his own “Phantom Of The Opera” character by using the catacombs underneath the prison to live out his secret existence.
The one-liners keep flying at us causing bursts of laughter along with the occasional eyerolling. The plot twists are so hysterical that you know they could only be the work of a mad comic genius.
Every element of modern filmmaking is a prime target in this parody. There is a courtroom scene with a smoke machine that adds a chalk-like fog to the set making it look like a music video on MTV. Like something out of an Ed Wood movie, the fog machine is completely visible in the back of the courtroom. Like I said, comic genius.
Another target for parody is the ridiculous recent trend of using CGI snowflakes. The snowflakes in this film defy gravity. They don’t fall down to earth. Instead they glide horizontally across the screen. And how do we know they’re CGI? Because the sky is a cloudless bright blue. And we all know that snow comes out of clouds, right? Like I said, comic genius.
After getting an Oscar nomination last year for the heavy drama “Doubt”, Viola Davis proves she too can be funny as the mayor with lines like “we’re gonna lockdown the whole town”. Then there’s the gorgeous blond deputy DA who looks like a runway supermodel but apparently has a law degree.
This comedy has it all. Exploding cell phone gags and killer missile-launching robots invading cemeteries. I simply couldn’t stop laughing.
“Law Abiding Citizen” is easily one of the funniest movies of the year. Oh, there’s just one problem with the film. All of the above laughs are unintentional. This film wants to be taken seriously!!!
DVD Double Feature: To see a great crime thriller that is a masterpiece of a psychological chess game, check out David Fincher’s “Seven” starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey. The checkmate climax will leave you stunned.
Michael The Moviegoer
