Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 American vigilante action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Kurt Wimmer. The film stars Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb, Regina Hall, Michael Irby, Christian Stolte, and Josh Stewart. Set in Philadelphia, it follows Clyde Shelton (Butler), a man who witnesses the rape and murder of his wife and daughter during a home invasion. Prosecutor Nick Rice (Foxx), who is unwilling to take a chance on lowering his high conviction rate due to lack of evidence, makes a plea bargain with the perpetrator, Clarence Darby (Stolte), who pleads guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for testifying against his accomplice, Rupert Ames (Stewart), and receives a reduced prison sentence. Ten years later, Shelton takes the law into his own hands and targets not only Rice, but also those whom he believes support a broken and corrupt criminal justice system.

Law Abiding Citizen was theatrically released in the United States by Overture Films on October 16, 2009, to negative reviews from critics, who praised the performances of the cast but criticized the execution of its premise. The film's ending was especially panned and is often regarded as one of the worst in cinematic history. Despite this, it was a box office success, grossing $127.9 million against its $53 million production budget. The film was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Action or Adventure Film at the 36th Saturn Awards.