‹ All movies
Law Abiding Citizen poster

Law Abiding Citizen

year 2009decade 00sdirector F. Gary Graygenre Crimegenre Thrillergenre Drama

109 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Jamie Foxx Nick Rice
Gerard Butler Clyde Shelton
Colm Meaney Detective Dunnigan
Bruce McGill Jonas Cantrell
Leslie Bibb Sarah Lowell
Michael Irby Detective Garza
Gregory Itzin Warden Iger
Regina Hall Kelly Rice
Emerald-Angel Young Denise Rice
Christian Stolte Clarence Darby
Annie Corley Judge Laura Burch
Richard Portnow Bill Reynolds
Viola Davis Mayor April Henry
Josh Stewart Rupert Ames

Law Abiding Citizen | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Van Lathanhost Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Clarence Worley Should Have Died

Nick Rice

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:06Read transcript
  • The award for the biggest cop-out of an ending is invoked; wondering how the film should have ended is part of why it is rewatchable.
  • One proposed ending has Clyde anticipate Nick's move and blow him up in the cell or escape, or plant a second briefcase so Nick must choose between killing both of them or City Hall.
  • Nick has to die: outside the two murderers he is the one most to blame, and Clyde kills everyone else around him.
  • A counterpoint compares Seven, where the final murder has to happen, and calls this a bad David Fincher film; but in Seven John Doe is outside the two leads, so killing Nick would validate Clyde's killings, unless Clyde blows both of them up.
  • Another alternative: at the recital Nick's tie could carry poison, since the film sets up Clyde's tie that strangled a man; the ending may have been planned and chickened out of, like going for it on fourth down all game and then kicking a field goal.
  • The ending should have been settled earlier, from the cellmate killing; Clyde would have had to die or choose not to go through with it, instead of dumb Nick outsmarting the CIA operative.
  • Returning to it at the end: Nick has to die in the last scene; one voice says 'I think we all agree' it is a better movie if he dies.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:17Read transcript
  • Ebert gave the film three stars and liked it, writing that it is one of those movies you like more at the time than in retrospect, but that there is something to be said for a movie you like well enough at the time.
  • The hosts joke about whether the review was really written then or by a host a couple of days ago.
  • One speaker agrees with the in-the-moment point: after finishing the film he described the whole thing to Liz for 15 minutes; another review said you love it right away and then reconsider.
  • Watching with his wife and Ben, who had never seen it and liked it; his wife called it terrible until Leslie Bibb's car blew up and she got sucked in.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The cell phone killing the judge; Nick and Clyde's first interrogation; the cellmate killing; the parking-lot bombing

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:14Read transcript
  • The opening home invasion is excluded from the rewatchable scenes.
  • Nick meeting Clyde to explain the plea deal (DNA ruled inadmissible despite a witness) is called one of the most detestable scenes in a beloved movie; afterward you want Clyde to kill everyone involved.
  • The lethal injection gone wrong is picked; it prompts curiosity about who attends executions, and Nick brings Leslie Bibb's character and skips his daughter's recital to watch.
  • A favorite trope: something traumatic has to happen for a man to become a real father.
  • Darby's abduction is 'perfectly executed', with his companion slumped on the ground; the barbed-gun reveal is when 'the movie has started'; the tetrodotoxin detail was looked up and is said to be real.
  • Clyde pretends to confess to Nick without confessing; a smarter, Fincher-style movie would reveal that an hour later instead of immediately.
  • The judge scene delivers the title line, 'Your honor, I'm a law-abiding citizen', followed by insults to the judge that are called hysterical.
  • In the jail cell Clyde orders a Del Frisco's steak and kills his cellmate with the bone, not the spork, as one speaker had believed after nine viewings, while 'Eminence Front' plays.
  • The cellmate killing was the most confusing moment on first viewing until the tunnels are revealed; a flashback to ten years of preparation would have been welcome.
  • The cell phone that blows up the judge is an all-timer and one speaker's favorite scene: out of nowhere, right after she says a judge can do what she wants, with horror-movie shock.
  • The parking-lot bombing kills Leslie Bibb's character; the hosts ask why Nick had everyone wait in the office at 6 a.m. and why the DA works the case like a detective.
  • The funeral drone gun, where Jonas is shot and then finished with a rocket, and the first 80 minutes are called elite.
  • The tunnel reveal and the final 'I don't make deals with murderers' confrontation end with operatic fire around Clyde as he looks at his daughter's bracelet.
  • One pick: 'my most rewatchable is the cell phone easily', plus Nick and Clyde's first interrogation; the eyelid-torture scene with the mirror is an honorable mention.
  • Another pick lists the cellmate, the cell phone and the parking lot, calling the whole stretch fantastic.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

The iPod scene; no social media outrage over the plea bargain

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:39Read transcript
  • The crucial iPod scene, with a big iPod plugged into speakers near the end of the iPod era, is the most 2009 thing.
  • There was no social media to be outraged by the plea bargain; true crime would have changed the movie, with Clyde becoming a hero with his own faction online.
  • A comparison is drawn to public support for the man who killed the United CEO.
  • Fake true-crime documentaries about fictional characters (Clyde, John Doe from Seven, the Corleone victims) are pitched as a Ringer Movies idea; a fake 30 for 30 about Drago is said not to have worked.

Gandolfini Butter on My Ass So It Pops in My Mouth Award

Lawyers protecting a conviction or plea-bargain rate; a tragedy turning a man into a father

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:00Read transcript
  • One enjoyment: any movie where a lawyer protects a high conviction or plea-bargain rate, as in A Few Good Men and The Devil's Advocate, which signals the lawyer is a bad guy.
  • Another: movies where something tragic has to happen for a man to become a father, like a dad reaching his son's game only after terrorists kill 50 people.
  • Nick going to the recital does not follow from anything he learned; if his tie started strangling him there, it would be a Seven-level twist.

What’s Aged the Best?

The Butler-Foxx role flip; Butler's naked arrest; Philadelphia as a location; Regina Hall; another character explaining the hero's special skills

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:49Read transcript
  • The hosts say Foxx was first set to play Clyde and Butler the lawyer until Butler pushed to flip; they quote Butler saying he was seduced by the other role and asked if Jamie would take the lawyer.
  • The flip is judged right: Butler as the lawyer would be a worse movie, while it is a better role for Foxx.
  • Butler's naked arrest adds him to the white leading men who show their butts on camera (Kevin Costner in Robin Hood, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise); the hosts joke that hairy actors' butts are always waxed.
  • Philadelphia is an underrated, confined movie location; the Rocky statue or the Liberty Bell should have been threatened.
  • Regina Hall brings gravitas to a role of a few scenes, which is three scenes too short.
  • Another character explaining the hero's special set of skills is a favorite device; here it comes from 'the House of Cards guy' in a tunnel.

Chest Rockwell / Brock Landers Award for Best Character Name

Clyde Shelton; Nick Rice

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:36Read transcript
  • Butler's character is Clyde Shelton and Foxx's is Nick Rice; the hosts say the names flipped along with the roles.
  • Few white men in American history are named Clyde, and Foxx does not look like a Nick Rice; Darius Jackson is joked about as the original.

The Slow Ride / Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness Award for Best Needle Drop

"Eminence Front" by The Who

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:06Read transcript
  • 'Eminence Front' by The Who, remembered from Craig's favorite show Entourage.
  • A tangent covers the recent Jake Paul gambling ad with Piven and Grenier playing thinly veiled Entourage characters, which the hosts describe the Entourage creator objecting to; hosts enjoyed seeing them and would watch a relaunch.

Is There a Better Title for This Movie?

Shut the Hell Up, Nick

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:55Read transcript
  • One speaker could not come up with a title.
  • 'Shut the Hell Up, Nick': whenever Nick speaks, the opposite happens terribly, as in the parking lot.
  • Nick refuses Clyde's offer to confess in exchange for a mattress, to his team's disbelief.

Top Five List

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:51Read transcript
  • The flex list ranks body counts and consequences; Death Wish is fifth, with a joke about its total body count across the series.
  • The Equalizer is fourth: Denzel's character wipes out a Russian mob over three movies.
  • Taken is third; its hero describes his own particular set of skills instead of having someone else explain them, a self-promoter compared with Trautman in Rambo.
  • First Blood is second: Rambo was not bothering anyone, and in an alternate universe he runs an Italian restaurant.
  • John Wick is first: after the dog and car, he kills 439 people in seven months, one of the worst mistakes in the history of movie organized crime.
  • Rebel Ridge gets a shout-out as another that missed the list.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Clyde's needlessly elaborate ten-year plan; Clyde moving freely in and out of isolation

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:02Read transcript
  • Clyde could have just killed Darby, the judge and everyone else instead of spending ten years digging tunnels.
  • A defense: killing anonymously would not make a public point against the justice system.
  • Waiting years let Darby keep living; the distinction between justice and revenge (Batman Begins) explains Clyde's scattershot method.
  • The other weak link is Clyde moving in and out of an elaborate, manicured isolation cell unnoticed, while also working a janitorial job under the name Nomos.

Death Wish 2 Award: Did This Home-Invasion Scene Go Too Far?

No

The panel proposes a new category here.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:25Read transcript
  • A new award is proposed on the spot, the Death Wish 2 award for whether the home-invasion scene went too far.
  • The assault is not really shown, so it does not go too far, though it is grotesque; one line to the little girl may be too far.
  • The scene lets you stay behind Clyde for the whole movie.
  • How did such a skilled killer get hit with a bat in that situation?

Picking Nits

Clyde opening the door without the peephole; criminals randomly targeting a secret CIA killer's family; Nick shaking Darby's hand on camera; no camera in Clyde's cell; Clyde not noticing the warehouse break-in; a DA and a cop handling bombs; the uninventive final briefcase bomb; beating Clyde back to his cell; a prisoner running an underground base

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:22Read transcript
  • Moved up from the picks: a master planner opens the door at night to strangers without looking through the peephole.
  • Two random criminals happened to attack the family of a secret CIA killer; a smarter version would make the crime itself revenge.
  • Nick shaking Darby's hand in front of reporters is the dumbest thing he does.
  • Nobody puts a camera in Clyde's isolation cell once things start exploding.
  • Clyde would have noticed the warehouse break-in, and a DA and a cop would not know how to handle bombs.
  • The final crime, a briefcase bomb under a table with no camera on it, is the least inventive; a purpose beyond carnage or a Bodyguard-style camera twist would have been better.
  • How Nick and the cops reach Clyde's cell before he does is unclear.
  • The biggest nit: a prisoner running a climate-controlled, wired underground base like Bruce Wayne makes no sense.
  • The blanket-over-pillow decoy is weak next to a favorite Eastwood prison-escape film with molded fake heads, which CR is said to love and which might be done on the show.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Missing Philly accents; no Philly sports references; Viola Davis wasted as the mayor; Nick

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:51Read transcript
  • The Philly accents are nonexistent; nobody tried.
  • There are no Philly sports references even though the Phillies were, a speaker thinks, in the 2009 World Series; a villain could have mentioned a Phillies game or Chase Utley.
  • Viola Davis is wasted as the mayor in about three scenes, used as a legitimizer, as in one scene in Out of Sight.
  • Nick: 'every time I watch it... Nick sucks'.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Sarah deserved to die; Gerard Butler should have been James Bond instead of Daniel Craig

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:33Read transcript
  • One participant did not prepare a take because he did not know he would be in that chair.
  • Take: Sarah deserved to die; the hosts joke she was headed for a relationship with Nick.
  • Hottest take: Gerard Butler should have been James Bond instead of Daniel Craig 20 years ago, at a similar career point, in Casino Royale or Skyfall.
  • The take is called entertaining 'total bullshit' and a 'dazzling putrid take' given Craig's success; without Bond, Butler might not have made Den of Thieves, and Daniel Craig could have been in this film.
  • Objections: Butler's brand is brutality while Bond needs suaveness, and his Scottish delivery; he does fit the Sean Connery man's-man Bond, but the objector concludes it is terrible.

Casting What-Ifs

Butler and Foxx originally in each other's roles; Frank Darabont originally set to direct

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:13Read transcript
  • Casting what-ifs opens with 'we mentioned the Butler Fox thing'.
  • Foxx was first set to play Clyde and Butler the lawyer until Butler pushed to flip, as the hosts said earlier.
  • The hosts say Frank Darabont was supposed to direct and left over creative differences, joking he could not do another movie with tunnels to jail cells; they say he later sued AMC over The Walking Dead.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Gregory Itzin as the warden

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:41Read transcript
  • Colm Meaney is offered: the sidekick who survives along with Foxx, known from Star Trek and Mystery, Alaska; Bruce McGill 'is Bruce McGill'.
  • The warden was played by President Logan from 24; the speaker looked up the name, Gregory Itzin, and says he wins.
  • Michael Kelly, as Clyde's former co-worker, is also offered, but is said to have ascended past That Guy status with Landman and Lioness.

Worst Accent

Flex pick · Craig Horlbeck

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:07Read transcript
  • Chooses the Kevin Costner award for worst American accent and gives it to Gerard Butler, whose Scottish accent falls out with every line. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The hosts wonder whether he is even meant to be American, as a CIA operative.
  • A speaker says actors should just keep their normal accent, citing Chris Hemsworth's Brooklyn accent in Blackhat and Costner in Robin Hood.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Butler's law training and firing as a trainee solicitor; the film's toll on Butler; filming in Philadelphia; the near-NC-17 cellmate killing; Nomos meaning law in Greek; Bruce McGill's two car-explosion deaths

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:30Read transcript
  • The hosts say Butler graduated from law school in Glasgow, was a trainee solicitor, got fired and became an actor.
  • The hosts report Butler's own account that the film messed with him, and he went away to hike and then to India; he is called one of the most interesting people and a wished-for podcast guest.
  • They filmed in Philadelphia; the hosts quote Butler that veteran crew were stunned by the cellmate killing and the ratings board said it would be rated NC 17, so it was cut down.
  • Nomos, Clyde's janitor identity, is said to mean law in Greek.
  • The hosts note Bruce McGill has two car-explosion deaths, the other in The Last Boy Scout; a website tracking actors' movie deaths is pitched.

Apex Mountain

Del Frisco's Steakhouse: this movie; Philadelphia law movies: Philadelphia; vigilante movies: Death Wish; Leslie Bibb: Talladega Nights

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:26Read transcript
  • Earlier aside: the film 'really might be Apex Mountain' for the long con, with ten years of planning; this is hedged.
  • Butler's apex is placed in the mid-2000s coming out of 300, and Foxx's after Ray and Collateral.
  • Leslie Bibb's apex is Talladega Nights, with White Lotus mentioned.
  • For Philadelphia law movies Philadelphia still holds it; for vigilante movies it is Death Wish; for 'Eminence Front' it is probably still the first episode of Entourage.
  • Del Frisco's Steakhouse: 'definitely'.

Cruise or Hanks?

Cruise

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:51Read transcript
  • Hanks goes in the Philadelphia shadow sequel with Denzel as Nick, and Cruise would be a phenomenal Clyde, a dark role he should have done more after Collateral.
  • Cruise would have crushed the hyper-fixated Clyde and learned tunneling and bomb-making; running would have been added in the parking garage.
  • A speaker says Craig thought Cruise would make a good Rewatchables guest and they argued; the other thinks Cruise would not answer a single category and dares him to come on.

Did This Movie Need a Random Sports Scene?

Nick's Saturday-morning basketball game with an exploding ball

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:06Read transcript
  • Nick's Saturday-morning basketball game with legal colleagues, where the ball explodes on a layup after Nick passes it.
  • Tennis and softball are considered, but basketball is best; Nick insisting on his hoops game amid the bombings fits the character.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Sequel in which Nick faces Clyde's booby traps

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:32Read transcript
  • The hosts say a sequel was announced in May 2022 with Kurt Wimmer returning, Butler producing and producer Lucas Foster calling the premise more relevant than ever, but three years later it was said not to be happening.
  • Sequel idea: Nick finds Clyde set booby traps in case he died, and Billy Bob Thornton plays a former associate who must get into Clyde's head.
  • The traps could include the basketball bomb or a bomb in the cello.

The Andy and Red – Zihuatanejo Award for What Happens the Next Day?

Nick goes to jail for blowing up the prison

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:57Read transcript
  • What happens the next day is taken up early: 'I'll just do it now'.
  • Nick goes to jail for blowing up a prison and probably many people in it with no warning; he should be arrested at the cello recital.
  • The bomb could take out two floors, so an inmate serving a short weed sentence would be killed.

Is This Movie Better With…?

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:51Read transcript
  • Football commentary from Collinsworth or Troy Aikman is imagined, calling Clyde like Josh Allen running the offense and calling audibles.

Just One Oscar

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:29:19Read transcript
  • 'Probably Butler, right?' is met with 'yeah, I guess'; both are hedged.
  • The hosts imagine Butler's nomination clip showing his box-cutter threat.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

What if the whole school blew up at the recital?

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:29:47Read transcript
  • The one question: what if Nick realizes at the recital that it is about to blow up, and the whole school explodes as the ending?
  • The school exploding is judged too dark, since hundreds of kids would die, though the film did blow up a prison.
  • A note triggering a bomb is compared with Arlington Road, which is said to follow its premise all the way through.
  • Nick being strangled by his tie, with a flashback of Clyde rigging his ties, would have been appropriate.
  • Clyde could peek from behind the curtain or be the piano accompanist; the film should not have shown the flames around Clyde, leaving his escape open.
  • Nick has to die in the last scene, and one voice says they all agree.

More from the conversation

Ringer network plug (Higher Learning, The Midnight Boys, Ringer Tailgate); the producer Craig is joining because a camera was lost and is also on a Ringer fantasy football show.
Approx. transcript time · 00:00:00Read transcript
Law Abiding Citizen introduced as a 2009 movie Van Lathan loves; in reply it is called one of the speaker's favorite theatergoing experiences, at the ArcLight, expecting something like Changing Lanes before the audience reacted to the brutal, absurd opening.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:49Read transcript
Vigilante movies as a 1970s tradition: Craig's least favorite Rewatchable was Death Wish; Death Wish 2 is called the nadir; Walking Tall and Foxy Brown also cited; revenge later sanitized into Taken; this film called peak 2000s revenge porn.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:47Read transcript
70s-80s vigilante films targeted street crime and felt 'kind of racist'; later films rage against a whole system (Falling Down, Gran Torino); Peppermint called bad; the Jodie Foster version called Death Wish-like and not good; Enough compared with Sleeping with the Enemy.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:11Read transcript
Four essentials for a vigilante movie: the hero was driven to it, is broken, crosses lines, and by the end may not be a good guy; the hero becomes what he fought.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:36Read transcript
Craig ('craig horoback' in ASR) came in on one minute's notice to the third chair; CR missed this Philadelphia movie.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:03Read transcript
The hosts say Gerard Butler cited a criminologist's paper on revenge killers; Clyde was a government operative, effectively 'Kaiser Soze' (as spoken).
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:02Read transcript
Russell Westbrook 90/10 comparison: the ending is the film's 10 percent; the script 'ran out of smart'; a Fight Club ending was preferred; a speaker doubts the urban legend that Jamie Foxx forced a Hollywood ending.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:24Read transcript
Foxx's Nick is called one of the most annoying characters, reactive with no point of view; Butler's Clyde holds the system accountable.
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:46Read transcript
Butler career run: 300, Phantom of the Opera, RocknRolla, rom-coms (P.S. I Love You, The Ugly Truth, The Bounty Hunter), Chasing Mavericks, Olympus Has Fallen, Den of Thieves, Greenland, Plane; settled into mid-level action.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:18Read transcript
Foxx career: Collateral and Ray, the Ray Oscar, then Stealth, Jarhead, Miami Vice, Dreamgirls, The Kingdom, The Soloist, Valentine's Day; never leveraged the Oscar.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:38Read transcript
Foxx never acted himself out of celebrity but was better as the second guy (Miami Vice, Collateral, Horrible Bosses); prestige TV suggested; he is ubiquitous as host, comedian, singer and podcast guest.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:32Read transcript
A joke question about a Foxx-Diddy feud is rebuffed.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:24Read transcript
The hosts say F. Gary Gray directed (they recently did his Italian Job), Kurt Wimmer wrote it, with Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb and Regina Hall; $53M budget, $127.9M gross.
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:16Read transcript
No current Gerard Butler analog: a 2026 version would cast MBJ as the lawyer; Glen Powell too likable; Miles Teller, Brad Pitt and Austin Butler floated; the film called a discount Fincher movie, compared with The Game.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:10Read transcript
Butler wins most movies he is in; a speaker is a Gerard Butler guy and saw every Olympus movie in theaters; Butler suggested for a sports role (Jim Harbaugh) and as underused.
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:32Read transcript
Closer: the most interesting part is when you stop rooting for Clyde (for one, when Leslie Bibb's character blew up); Nick's unlikability keeps you rooting for Clyde; the film is one big gray area.
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:59Read transcript
Craig, praised by name, says he walked in and was put in the third chair without preparing to host.
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:25Read transcript
I Play Rocky praised; Mr. Irrelevant mentioned; the hosts say Stallone was offered up to $360,000 in 1974 not to star and took $20,000 to star.
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:25Read transcript
Sign-off thanks Craig, then 'gahao', Eduardo and Chris, with no production role stated.
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:17Read transcript