Law Abiding Citizen
HeartGuard score
How suitable a title is for Christian viewers, from 0 to 100. It weighs the content meters and the worldview.
- 80–100Recommended
- 60–79Watch with care
- 35–59Think it through
- 15–34Strong cautionThis film
- 0–14Not recommended
HeartGuard score
How suitable a title is for Christian viewers, from 0 to 100. It weighs the content meters and the worldview.
- 80–100Recommended
- 60–79Watch with care
- 35–59Think it through
- 15–34Strong cautionThis film
- 0–14Not recommended
Worldview score
What the story celebrates or condemns.
Why −1 for this film
The film raises real questions about justice and compromise, and the prosecutor finally admits his own failings. However, it lingers on revenge violence and partly invites the audience to relish it, leaving its moral stance muddled.
- +2Affirms faithPresents faith in God positively and as true
- +1Positive valuesHonesty, sacrifice and family win out
- 0Mixed or neutralNo clear stance
- −1AmbivalentThis filmShows sin without judging it either way
- −2Glamorises sinMakes sin look attractive and rewarding
Age guide
How suitable this film is for each age group.
Why 18+ for this film
Graphic torture, constant killing including the death of a child, and pervasive strong language with crude sexual insults make this very intense, with sustained tension and gruesome detail.
- Under 8No
- Ages 8–12No
- Ages 13–15No
- Ages 16–17Wait
- AdultsCheck first
A tense, thought-provoking revenge thriller about justice and plea deals, made very hard going by graphic torture, constant killing and pervasive strong language. For adults only.
Watch guide
What's in it?
Language~56 f-words
Strong language runs throughout, including dozens of f-words, frequent other swearing and crude sexual insults aimed at a judge.
BlasphemyAbout a dozen
God's and Jesus' names are used as exclamations around a dozen times, mostly by detectives and officials under stress.
Sex and nudityCrude talk, no scenes
There are no sex scenes or nudity. Crude sexual remarks and an innuendo between prisoners appear in the dialogue.
RelationshipsLoving marriage
Nick's marriage is loving but strained by his long working hours. A colleague's boyfriend is mentioned in passing.
ViolenceGraphic torture, murder
The film opens with a home invasion in which a wife and child are killed. It goes on to show a botched execution, a prolonged torture-dismemberment set-up, a stabbing with a steak bone, car bombs, a man buried alive and explosive killings.
Frightening scenesIntense, gruesome
The tension is sustained, with gruesome torture described in detail and recorded on a video that a child accidentally watches.
Drugs and alcoholReferences only
Characters mention the drug trade and cocaine, and the execution drugs are discussed. No recreational use is shown.
AttitudesVigilante revenge
A bereaved father carries out a campaign of torture and murder against the justice system. The film invites some sympathy for his grievance, and the officials also bend the law. In the end his killing is not endorsed.
OccultNone
There is no witchcraft, magic, fortune-telling or contact with the dead. Clyde's reach from prison comes from planning and technology, and the few biblical phrases he uses are not occult.
- To knowContent to know about
- Skip for kidsSkip for younger viewers
- DiscussWorth discussing
- 0:01
Child death and violence
Masked intruders break into a family home. The wife and young daughter are killed while the father is forced to watch.
- 0:08
Justice and compromise
Nick persuades the grieving father to accept a plea deal that lets one killer serve a short sentence.
- 0:17
Execution and distressSkip if under 16
A lethal injection goes horribly wrong and the condemned man dies in obvious agony.
- 0:24
TortureSkip if under 18
Clyde paralyses a captive and describes in detail how he will torture and dismember him while the man feels everything.
- 0:40
Child frightened
Nick's young daughter accidentally watches the recorded killing on a disc sent to the family home, and her mother is distressed.
- 0:46
Strong language
In court Clyde launches a tirade full of crude sexual insults at the judge and is dragged away.
- 0:55
Murder and brutalitySkip if under 18
A lawyer is found buried alive. Earlier a cellmate is killed in a violent prison attack that the other inmates cheer on.
- 1:07
Bombings and killings
Car bombs and a booby-trapped phone kill judges and officials, and a trusted colleague dies in an explosion.
How to play
- 1. Draw a cardOne person reads the question out loud.
- 2. Everyone answersThere are no wrong answers. Listen before you reply.
- 3. Pass it onThe next person draws, until the deck is done.
Faith & story
What does it say?
What's it about?The plot, without the ending
Philadelphia prosecutor Nick Rice is proud of his conviction rate. When a home invasion leaves engineer Clyde Shelton's wife and daughter dead, Nick makes a plea deal that lets one of the killers escape with a light sentence. Ten years later the other killer's execution goes horribly wrong, and Clyde is soon behind bars. Even from his cell he seems able to reach anyone connected with the case. Nick must stop him while his own family and colleagues are drawn into the danger. The film asks what happens when a justice system and a man's thirst for vengeance collide.
Through a faith lensHow it connects to the Bible
Clyde's grief is real, and the film asks whether a justice system that trades truth for a high conviction rate has failed him. Scripture takes that kind of failure seriously: the prophets rebuked judges who perverted justice for the sake of gain. Yet Clyde's answer is the one the Bible forbids, which is to take vengeance into his own hands and repay evil with a far greater evil. Lamech's boast of a vengeance far beyond the original wrong is a close mirror of his escalating campaign, which kills many who had no part in the crime. Nick is the other half of the picture. He chose a convenient deal over the hard road of truth, and the film lets him admit that compromise costs more than a conviction rate. Scripture calls for justice pursued without partiality, and for evil to be overcome with good rather than answered in kind. The film hints at consequences for both men and leaves little room for grace, so viewers must bring the hope of forgiveness themselves.
Fruit of the SpiritWhich fruit does it show?
2 out of 9 fruits ripe in this film
Ripe grapes are shown in the film, buds are missing
- Joy
- Peace
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Gentleness
Love shows in Nick's tenderness with his wife and daughter, and in his determination to protect them, though work often crowds them out. Faithfulness appears in Clyde's devotion to his murdered family and in Sarah's loyalty to her boss, even as she questions his choices. Hatred and fits of anger drive Clyde's campaign, which he carries out in the name of a vengeance he treats as a kind of justice (idolatry). Strife runs between the prosecutors, the judges and the mayor, who trade blame and threats, and rivalries and envy surface in the office, where ambitious colleagues compete over cases and status. The story makes self-control especially telling: Clyde's patience is cold and calculated, and it is never the same as restraint.
The charactersExamples to follow or avoid
Nick RiceJamie FoxxAn ambitious prosecutor who values convictions over cases that are hard to win. He is a loving but often absent father, and he is forced to face the cost of his choices.
Clyde Alexander SheltonGerard ButlerA grieving husband and father who turns his skills as an engineer and former operative into a campaign of revenge against the system that failed him.
Detective DunniganColm MeaneyA seasoned, wry police detective who works alongside Nick and is wary of Clyde's intelligence and reach.
Jonas CantrellBruce McGillNick's mentor and the district attorney. He gives pragmatic advice about living with hard decisions.
Sarah LowellLeslie BibbA junior prosecutor who admires Nick but begins to question whether the compromises of the job are worth what they cost.
How Christians are portrayed
Faith and the church barely appear. The Bible is used for the swearing-in of an acting district attorney, and a prisoner is told to call a priest, as a quip. Clyde borrows biblical language about the righteous prospering and a temple brought down, but the film never examines faith or its people.
Community
What other Christians think
What did you notice?
A sex scene, shown or clearly implied?
Is this appropriate for Christians to watch?
Thinking of children? Add the youngest age you'd show it to.
Review
Helpful reviewer
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Given to members whose reviews 25 or more people have marked Helpful.
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Details
Film details
- In theatres
- Oct 15, 2009
- On streaming
- Nov 27, 2009
- Cast
- Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill
- Director
- F. Gary Gray
- Studios
- The Film Department, Evil Twins, Warp Films
- Genre
- Drama, Crime, Thriller
- Run time
- 1h 49m
- Age rating
- US R · UK 18
How we analysed this
We counted language, blasphemy and other content in the film's dialogue and read it with the plot and film details, then rated each content area against our rubric and worldview scale, using AI models calibrated on reference titles. Not yet reviewed by our team. Confidence: high.
Score = 100 − 16 × content concern (3.77) + 8 × worldview (−1) = 32
This is a guide to help families choose with wisdom, not a verdict on anyone's conscience ().
Updated 2026-10-14