Law Abiding Citizen Director F. Gary Gray: ‘I Never Think About Race’. Written by Kyle Buchanan
F. Gary Gray’s Law Abiding Citizen was a tidy hit when it came out last fall, hanging in the top ten for weeks until it made $73 million. Still, though the Jamie Foxx/Gerard Butler thriller performed well, it was hit by criticism from some outlets (including Movieline) that suggested the film had inadvertently become a right-wing revenge flick. With Citizen due for its DVD/Blu-ray release february 16, I called up Gray for his take on the controversial notion.
Well I have not seenn the movie yet but from what I have heard from it the movie is great. It shows us how our judicial sysytem is not as effective as we have been taught to beleive.For example when the criminal gets a 5 year sentence for the murders of(Gerald Butler’s)family. Some would think that the revenge plot is a bit harsh and over the edge. But when being put in his situation who knows how one would act, definately not sane that is for sure. I also agree with previous blogs on how our justice system does have leaks and it all comes down to the skill of your lawyer to mislead a jury into making the wrong/right decision.
Well Jamie Foxx and Gerard butler are really good actors. Also its like the Saw movies which I am a big fan of so I said y not. That and it was my friends birthday so we had to do something.
I have not seen this movie, but I am also interested in this movie after I read the article. I do usually believe that law or trial is not justice at all, especially under the jury system. Because I think that judgement tends to being decided by the skill of lawyer or inaccurate jury’s decision which is lead by lawyer or some prejudice. In the movie the guy who his family is killed (acted by Gerard Butler) believe that revenge that give the death penalty is his justice, not the court or lawyer. This movie show the contradiction of law system and the contradiction of justice to us, I think. However, I do not really think it is related to any kind of racial or political implications,I did not see this movie but I think this mainly topic is the contradiction of law system and the contradiction of justice. However, it is very difficult to define justice at same time in from of view of victim, murderer and layer,, different position.
I always try to stay away from movies that concerns violence and corruption. But with continual praises the movie was receiving and with nothing to do on a weekend, I went to watch it. And to my surprise the movie was really good. However, the movie, in a weird way, left a really deep mark in me. I am person who do not prefer to watch the news as I go by the saying, ‘Ignorance is a bliss’. It was disturbing to see the little girl get abused, the once happy family get killed, the lone father told by the lawyer that he cannot be helped, and the disgusting criminal shake hands with the lawyer and get by. It is human instinct to hurt those who hurt your family, and if it happens to a crazy person, he will react in a crazy way, and that is exactly what the movie shows-the father tries to rectify the law system, in his own way, and apparently he happened to be in the military killing-gizmo specialist.
This movie was awesome. I saw it 4 days ago when it came out on DVD. I never once thought that the people who they had play each role was in any way racial or in relation to Obama becoming President. This movie painted a strong picture of how our justice system has some leaks in it. A good point that was mentioned in the movie was, “It’s not what you know, but what you can prove in court.” This is essentially true for the most part and because of this the state prosecution does have to make deals with criminals who are willing to testify or make confessions. The people on the other side of the stick such as Gerard Butler, who’s family was murdered in front of him, of course felt that justice was not served properly. Due to the deal the person who essentially murdered his family received 5 years in prison. Is that what we call justice? I think not. The revenge plot I found to be a little over board but I think we all see how Gerard Butler really felt about the Justice system. Never make deals with criminals!
I actually haven’t seen it yet, but I really want to now that I’ve read this article. I think it is unlikely that so many controversial elements were present in a film without the director’s knowledge. His task was to assemble ideas, images and themes into one package. He would be falling down on the job if he was not aware that all of these things were present in the film.
What made you want to see the film, Jahmal? What struck you about the revenge plot
I had actually seen that movie on the day it came out and i thought it to be very good. The comment about the movie being entirely about revenge was a bit to strong.I believe that this movie resembles the Saw movies in that the point of the movie was to teach a lesson. How the character went about teaching the lesson was, I admit, partly fueled by vengeance. However the point was the lesson and the lesson was to never make deals or give in to criminals.