Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 American crime drama thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer and stars Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. The film takes place in Philadelphia and tells the story of a man driven to seek justice whilst targeting not only his familys killer but also those who have supported a corrupt criminal justice system. Law Abiding Citizen was released theatrically in North America on October 16, 2009.
Philadelphia, 1999. Starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Fox. In a violent home invasion, engineer Clyde Shelton Gerard Butler is forced to witness the rape and murder of his wife and young daughter by Clarence James Darby Christian Stolte and his accomplice Rupert Ames Josh Stewart. Prosecutor Nick Rice Jamie Foxx is unable to use DNA evidence to securely convict both accused. Unwilling to take a chance on lowering his 96 conviction rate, he chooses to make a deal with Darby the actual murderer, letting him plead guilty to a lesser charge, in return for testifying against Ames. Ames is falsely found guilty of masterminding the breakin and both murders and is sentenced to death. Shelton feels betrayed by Rices actions, as he had pleaded with him not to make the deal and to at least try convict both of them, and because he chose to release the actual killer. Darby serves his shortened sentence and is released just a few years later.Ten years later, Amess time on death row is up as he continues protesting his innocence. Unknown to the prosecutors and the witnesses, the cardiotoxic drug thats usually used in executions by lethal injection has been replaced with another drug Potassium bromide, causing Ames to die an extremely painful death. Evidences relating to tampering with the drug implicate no less than his accomplice Darby. As the police draw near to arrest him, an anonymous caller alerts Darby and offers him a way to escape, directing him to a remote location nearby. Shelton, disguised as a cop, reveals himself as the caller and paralyzes Darby with puffer fish venom. He proceeds to strap Darby to a table, opposite a fulllength mirror, and tortures and dismembers him, cutting off his fingers with bolt cutters, his toes with tin snips, his testes with a hacksaw and his penis with a box cutter, videotaping the entire operation. When Darbys remains are found, circumstantial evidence tentatively ties his death to Shelton. Despite knowing the evidence is weak, Shelton su
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