Law Abiding Citizen
Overture Films | Release Date: October 16, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
34
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
11
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
One of those movies you like more at the time than in retrospect. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The script does create sufficient tension and intrigue to hook viewers along with a photogenic, hardworking cast. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
That the film, directed in swift strokes by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay credited to Kurt Wimmer, doesn't really work - unrelentingly grim, unintentionally funny - is almost beside the point. It's a wild concept. Read full review
60
VarietyJustin Chang
True torture-porn aficionados will be disappointed, as editor Tariq Anwar cuts away right before blade meets flesh -- a move that feels a tad, well, gutless under the circumstances. But elsewhere, "Citizen" proves startlingly graphic, even by R-rated standards. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The payback in Law Abiding Citizen doesn't have a cathartic kick, because the revenge is so extreme it's horrifying. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Deep within Law Abiding Citizen lurks a thought-provoking movie. But most of what we see on the screen is implausible, superficial and only marginally involving. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The biggest problem with Law Abiding Citizen, however, is that the plot is just plain dumb. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
LawAbiding Citizen smells a bit musty these days. Indeed, in an era when the debate has shifted from too little state vigilance to too damn much, this thing seems almost quaint. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Clyde is meant to be nuts, but too often it's Law Abiding Citizen that checks rationality at the door. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
The movie starts out as a potboiler with a troubling character arc; unfortunately, it ends up becoming a goofy, story-overwhelming Rube Goldberg contraption that would make the producers of the "Saw" series blush. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Law Abiding Citizen, ultimately and inappropriately, tips the scales in favor of the Man over mankind. Somebody call Charles Bronson. Read full review
40
NPRMark Jenkins
We're supposed to be awed, but a more reasonable response is to giggle. How does a Kevlar tie kill? And if it can, why hasn't the CIA sent a Kevlar scarf to Osama bin Laden? Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesGlenn Whipp
The film's greatest sin isn't its cynical moral posturing but its complete failure to engage audiences on even a visceral level. Read full review
40
EmpireAngie Errigo
Relentlessly ugly, preposterous and hackneyed of dialogue: guilty on all counts. It will do well, then. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Jeez, did the "surprise" climax have to be this eye-rollingly stupid? Read full review
30
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
If the filmmakers meant a word of it, they'd quit making films and do something more useful. "Saw" with a conscience is not what the world needs. Read full review
30
Washington PostDan Kois
A movie devoted to baroque revenge would be, on its own terms, acceptable; what makes Law Abiding Citizen so risible is its humorless conviction that it's got Big Ideas at its core. Read full review
30
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Wears its preposterousness with a certain pride. It’s about the cat-and-mouse game between two very smart guys, and it’s perfectly happy to be as dumb as it wants. Read full review
30
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Such a lazy action-drama underachiever, it seems unfair to target stars Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler for bringing their C game. Read full review
30
TimeRichard Corliss
Butler has the showier part, but his impersonation of the tragic hero is undercut by his weird resemblance to Soupy Sales. You start hoping that Shelton will kill somebody with a custard (or puffer-fish) pie to the face. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderCliff Doerksen
Generally I don’t mind a little recreational fascism as long as it’s deep-fried in savory violent vengeance, but this overwrought mess gives vigilantism a bad name. Read full review
25
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
A vigilante/torture-porn potpourri, is particularly toxic because it's scented with phony importance. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
A flagrantly ridiculous thriller that tries to retrofit "Saw" to function as a mainstream, semi-respectable vigilante picture Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Like a lot of action-movie directors, Gray lacks the imagination to view the art of cat-and-mouse as more than a chance to play with state-of-the-art war technology. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
Vigilante movies hold a firm place in cinematic history, but for them to work, the vigilante needs to be a sympathetic anti-hero. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
At last, the missing link be tween "Phantom of the Opera" and "Saw." Welcome to the gonzo revenge saga Law Abiding Citizen. Read full review
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