Vintage

After the amazing transformation from book to movie of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men by the Coen brothers there was ample reason to hope that another McCarthy novel could be equally successfully adapted. Of course, in the end that ended up not being true of The Road, the post-apocalyptic father and son road trip film starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.

In fairness, The Road was not the type of book that naturally lends itself to being made into a film. It contains relatively little action and scant amounts of dialogue. The bulk of the story is Viggo and his son – neither of whom are given names – walking along a road (go figure) scrounging for food and trying to find shelter, at least temporarily, while hoping not to run into the more dangerous vagabonds traveling along the same road. They have their share of luck both good and bad. From encounters with jerks who threaten their lives and flip their precious shopping cart to the discovery of an underground bunker full of non-perishable food items and a well-placed Coke machine, there were several moments of conflict; just not enough to keep an audience entertained.

These adventures are interspersed with flashbacks of Viggo’s time with his now deceased wife – Theron’s also-unnamed character – from before shit-hit-the-fan and man and son had to set out towards the ocean for some unclear reason. Such scenes had to be added and elongated for the film because there weren’t all that many in the book and, as we all know any film needs a strong female lead. That might have been the first clue that maybe this film was left better off in print form alone. Another reason is that anyone who read the book – which is a very large group of people – knew right off the bat that it would in no way be equaled as a film. Surely the filmmakers counted on pure curiosity from people wondering how the film would turn out to get them some sort of respectable draw at the box office. But really, this film, like so many other novels-cum-films, paled greatly in comparison with the original work.

It’s oftentimes said that a picture is worth a thousand words. That very well may be true, but perhaps not necessarily when it comes to on-screen adaptations of works of literature. A book like The Road, in which there’s not a whole lot of action, gains popularity because of the words themselves. The author’s use of imagery, tone and any and all other literary elements as well as the attention to detail allowed in each paragraph and sentence is what truly sets a work apart. A picture may be worth a thousand words but when it comes to putting pictures to what is written on a page, the exact words are rarely if ever captured.

Law Abiding Citizen is a somewhat outlandish thriller but I liked it.  It was well-acted and carried out its sometimes silly plot with conviction.  Ah, conviction, an operative word in Law Abiding Citizen.

The film stars Jaimie Foxx as a prosecuting attorney Nick Rice.   However, before we even get to know rice, we witness a brutal crime.  Gerard Butler is Clyde Shelton, a man opening the door to his house when he is hit square in the face with a baseball bat.  His wife is then raped and murdered.  He somehow lives.

Later, Nick Rice is prosecuting the thugs that murdered his family and to ensure his 96-percent conviction rate, cuts a deal to send one of the accused to death row while the other gets a lesser degree murder rape rap.  Rice assures Shelton this is their only option because the case is not air tight.  After all, since Shelton passed out his testimony will be of no help.  Shelton is furious and he fumes.  

Cut to ten years later.

Rice is enjoying the success of his career.  Shelton, meanwhile, launches into a scheme to kill the man who killed his family.  How this is done is quite gruesome and shows us that Shelton, despite our sympathy for him, clearly is wiling to go overboard in exacting his revenge. 

Okay, I will tell you: he dismembers Darby, one of the men responsible for killing his family.  Only he does it by first injecting him with Puffer fish toxin that keeps him alert yet paralyzed.  Darby awakes to fin himself strapped to a table.  Shelton then pumps adrenaline into him intravenously so the man will not pass out as his limbs are being removed.  Is he happy now?  No.  How he seeks revenge on the entire justice system, which includes Rice.

Slowly Shelton is able to kill many people in the justice system, including attorneys, judges, legal counsel and inmates, all from his jail cell.  After all, he let himself be caught.  Is Rice next?  Is he saving him for last?  Perhaps. 

Nevertheless, Rice is going to fight back.  In his way are several clever ploys on the part of Shelton to kill basically the whole justice department.  Or, are these ideas merely over the top?  I mean Shelton employs a drone to kill a bunch of people at a funeral.  Plus, Shelton is seemingly is the toughest guy that ever lived.  We learn why - at least plausibly why in Law Abiding Citizen he is so tough.  He is ex-CIA, trained to kill people with unorthodox ways.  Okay.  I'll buy that.  But, jeez, how come we are still fighting in Afghanistan with guys like Shelton on our side?  I mean he can literally kill an entire governmental arm all from within his jail cell?  Yet, can't get all those enemies in Afghanistan?  

I won't harp on the incredible chain of events that must go precisely right so Shelton can carry out his revenge.  I will say that law Abiding Citizen is a well done and well acted thriller.  It's a film where since the actors believe what they are doing, we do too.  A bit over the top, yes, but I was entertained and bad guys were killed creatively.  Isn't that what CoolFilmz.com is all about?  Wait a second...  I think there is a drone parked around the corner.