MovieChat Forums > Law Abiding Citizen (2009) Discussion > Gerard Butler's character...

Gerard Butler's character...

posted 7 years ago by tph890 (490)
8 replies | jump to latest

...was much more sympathetic than Jamie Foxx's, and I think Butler should have won in the end, or they both should have lost. This movie would have been so much better with a 'Se7en'-esque ending.
Just my opinion, but seriously, Foxx's character was not a hero--he was a bad lawyer, he was arrogant, he was condescending, and he showed very little remorse for his poor judgment. But he wins in the end?! (I'm supposed to be rooting for this jerk?!!)
Now, Butler's character definitely went full psycho, and deserved to be punished for his actions, but I never really bought the ending where Foxx outsmarts him. If anything, they both should have gone down.

[–] Truthtalker (2033) 7 years ago

So true

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 6 years ago

He kind of won ... he didn't get to kill everyone, but he got Nick to stop making deals with murderers. He also got Nick to resort to murder in order to stop Clyde. Clyde claimed he was trying to change things, and he succeeded.

[–] captainbucky (15252) 6 years ago

He was like Tech 9 blammmo! SHOTS FIRED HAUSS

[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 6 years ago

I JUST finished the movie and came here to say the same thing. Foxx was an unsympathetic character, and the very final shot of the movie, the close-up of him at his daughter's recital, apparently it was supposed to evoke some kind of...something. But it was just hollow...a kind of, "Whelp, that's that then", I guess its over feeling lol
Yep, good point, this ending was definitely lacking. I couldn't imagine many people actually rooting for Foxx here, no matter how much Butler needed stopped.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 6 years ago

No he wasn't sympathetic. Yeah, the two killers had it coming. But he killed their lawyer, the judge, an assistant-assistant DA and half a dozen other innocent people. The justice system exists to protect us from A-holes like his character, who would launch an unending cycle of retribution every time they didn't like a verdict one way or the other.

Lawyers can be sleazy and judges can be smug and act above the law, but Butler was sleazier and more smug and put himself even farther above the law -- he became a terrorist, worse than all but one of the people he killed.

[–] tph890 (490) 6 years ago

I agree, Butler’s character lost all justification for his actions when he started killing innocent people. He became what he hated, which is the sad irony of this story. But I still sympathize for his plight, without condoning his actions.

[–] captainbucky (15252) 6 years ago

It kinda got off the rails there

[–] thenewnexus (1913) 5 years ago

I hated foxx character but butler was a psychopath reminds me of the punisher in punisher max