Starring: Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx
Director: F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, A Man Apart)
Running Time: 2 hr 2 min
Release Date: Oct. 16, 2009
Budget: $50 million
Average Critics’ Score: 27%
“…a photogenic, hardworking cast.” Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
“A flagrantly ridiculous thriller…” Scott Tobias, The Onion (A.V. Club)
Explosions and an overload of violence overshadow any semblance of a realistic plot or meaningful commentary on the concept of right and wrong. In this often unintentionally silly suspense thriller, Butler plays Clyde Shelton, a man whose wife and young child were brutally murdered in a home invasion. After the Assistant District Attorney (Fox) lets one of the criminals get off easy, Clyde’s embarks on a revenge-fueled killing spree he’ll only stop if the justice system is corrected. While the story is somewhat suspenseful simply because the audience doesn’t understand how Clyde is orchestrating the killings from behind bars, Citizen suffers from bland performances and stale dialogue.
