I recently watched the movie Law Abiding Citizen and was surprised by how enigmatic it turned out to be. By enigmatic, I mean that the movie does not follow a straight and narrow direction and the line between good guys and bad guys is super thin. The plot focuses on a man who's family was killed in front of his eyes. One of the murderers ends up getting the death sentence, while the other walks free for his role in testifying as a witness against the other. The main character, Clyde Shelton (played by Gerard Butler), becomes frustrated at the legal system and decides to get revenge, while punishing the very system that allowed his family's murderer to walk free. Jamie Foxx plays the attorney who prosecuted the murderers.

There were some scenes in the movie that were reminiscent of the film Speed, in which a mad man plots to get revenge by rigging contraptions to wreak havok while on auto pilot. Just like the main villain in Speed, Clyde Shelton sets rules for Jamie Foxx and law enforcement to follow, and takes lives if they don't.

The character development in Law Abiding Citizen is it's best feature. Gerard's character begins the movie as the underdog every-man that most people relate to. The audience is quick to sympathize with him when his family is murdered, and quick to cheer for him when he sets out for justice and tortures the man who murdered his family, Clarence Darby (played by Christian Stolte). But as the movie progresses, the audience may start to feel less sympatetic for Gerard's character as the twists in the movie begin and he starts taking innocent people's lives as well. A game of cat and mouse ensues while Clyde Shelton is still in solitary confinement, leading investigators and Jamie Foxx's character to assume that Shelton has an accomplice.

In summary, the movie Law Abiding Citizen is an excellent movie for those who enjoyed movies such as Death Sentence. It's a crime thriller that is mildly predictable although puzzling at the same time. I recommend that anybody thinking about downloading Law Abiding Citizen should just man up the few dollars and go out and rent this movie, it's worth it.