Coming this Fall (October 16th to be precise), Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler star in the film Law Abiding Citizen. I think both Butler and Foxx are underrated actors and, to their credit, have had some, what I think are, amazing turns in films like Collateral, Ray, 300, Rocknrolla. They were even good in the less popular Bait and P.S. I Love You (which I’ll admit I like them both). But as far as this new film goes, where did this come from and why had I not heard about it?!? For those of you in the know, have a look at the poster that was released…
Anyway, I guess I was living under a rock (or was probably paying more attention to news of The Expendables production) and so I got word of this film, and the excerpt below, from Flix Chatter :
In the movie, Butler plays Clyde, an ordinary man who’s hellbent on vengeance against a DA (Jamie Foxx) who sets his family’s killers free. Set in Philadelphia, this is the first film produced by Gerry’s own production company Evil Twins. F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) directs the film based on a script by Kurt Wimmer (Equillibrium). Initially, Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption) was attached to direct, but unexpectedly dropped out just as Foxx was cast. The film also underwent a role reversal as Butler was supposed to play the District Attorney—that’d be interesting as he actually has a law degree!
Looking at the cast on IMDB, I am surprised to see cast members like Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney (both in the awesome Layer Cake) so this film already is peaking my interest. I’d say this just keeps looking better and better, however as I am re-reading the plot, my gut tells me that this might be a mix of Changing Lanes and 88 Minutes (which the latter was just horrible) but that may be unfair and naive skepticism on my part. I’m also pretty curious why they moved the release date up from March of next year. Maybe it’s a plan to grab some of the attention Butler will get from Gamer which comes out in September, but studios always have their reasons, right? On the bright side, I do like the fact that F. Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian Job) is directing it, and I like his style of film making and it should be a fun ride! Yet again this could turn into Butler’s Deception…I keep going back and forth on this so I guess I’ll take a step back and we’ll just have to wait and see.
Either way, I’ll keep my eye out for more on this as it is now on my Movie RADAR. But what do you all think? Interesting premise?? Anyone heard of it??