History Film / LawAbidingCitizen

* DeusExMachina: Rice and the Justice System spend most of the movie without a clue of how Clyde is carrying out his plans until [[spoiler:Sarah's boyfriend, who we've only met through a couple emails, sends Rice critical information about Clyde's finances. We never learn how or why he would have this information]].

* TheUnseen: [[spoiler:We never see Sarah's boyfriend.]]

-->'''Nick Rice:''' Like I said Clyde, it's a decision you'll have to live with for the rest of your life. [[spoiler:Which I figure right now is about 25 more seconds.]]

* GenreDeconstruction:
** Whether intentionally or not, it's basically a movie about a SuperVillain who [[FreudianExcuse suffered great personal tragedy]] and is now trying to bring down the justice system that failed him.

* AnArmAndALeg: Clyde cuts off Darby's fingers, limbs, penis, and head in succession.

* AndIMustScream: Clyde injects Darby with a paralyzing neurotoxin that keeps him helpless but fully conscious and entirely capable of feeling everything Clyde does to him (see below). He also goes to great lengths to ensure that Darby stays alive and conscious as long as possible; he places tourniquets on Darby's arms and legs so he doesn't bleed out, administers a saline drip so he doesn't die of dehydration, injects him with adrenaline so he doesn't pass out, and inserts a mouthpiece to prevent him choking on his own tongue.

** Nick claims Clyde's testimony would not be reliable because he blacked out, even though that was ''after'' he clearly saw their faces and saw Darby rape and kill his wife and carry his daughter off. That alone should have been enough. There is also the matter of the plea deal Darby makes. If he testified against Ames he would only have to plead guilty to murder in the third degree. In real life, no such deal would ever be allowed to be accepted, as just by admitting that he was there with Ames, Darby would effectively be admitting to guilt of the above mentioned FelonyMurder rule, which dictates anyone involved in a felony in which a death occurred is automatically guilty of first degree murder (unlike involuntary manslaughter, which covers misdemeanors). This means that just by proving that they were both present at the home invasion, Darby and Ames would have been found guilty of first degree murder. Neither would have been allowed to plead guilty to anything less than first degree murder, even though Ames was only guilty of attempted theft.

-->-- '''Clyde Sheldon'''

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Clyde's RoaringRampageOfRevenge is stopped by Nick, who learns his lesson about making deals with criminals and finally attends his daughter's concert. However, a lot of innocent people are dead and Clyde's death is [[AlasPoorVillain treated sympathetically.]] Even Nick learning not to make deals with Clyde, or other criminals, was actually one of Clyde's goals.]]

* TheDreaded: Clyde.

* VillainHasAPoint: Despite the radical actions he takes, Clyde ultimately does have good reasons to be disillusioned by the justice system and to be angry at Nick and associates. After all, the murderer of his wife and child did get off what is practically a slap on the wrist and on [[PleaBargain deal]] that was made primarily because Nick feared that his near perfect prosecution record would be broken. Had there been actual justice, the entire plot of the film very likely wouldn't have happened in the first place.

* TheEngineer: Clyde himself obviously, and he's an extraordinarily magnificent one at that.

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Played with: while regular "revenge" movie structure would have Darby survive for a long(er) time because of sheer luck,intelligence, or being connected to a bigger criminal conspiracy of some type, he (and Ames) dies ''very'' early and the movie instead focuses on Clyde's [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope progression]] into an InUniverse RealLife "super-villain", mustache-twirling included.

* DecoyProtagonist: At first it looks like Clyde Shelton is going to be the main character. Nope, the moment Nick is introduced, he becomes the main character.

* YouTaughtMeThat: At the end, the villain is finally cornered by the protagonist, a prosecutor who is responsible for starting the whole thing by making a deal with a murderer. When the villain tries to negotiate, the prosecutor says he doesn't make deals with murderers anymore and references this trope.

** "Fuck [his] Civil Rights." Everyone in the courtroom is looking at Clyde like he's crazy.

* HateSink: Darby is made to be as loathsome as possible. This is to make Clyde exceedingly easy to root for in comparison, and to give the audience the satisfaction when Clyde ends up torturing Darby to death.

* TheBadGuyWins: Downplayed. Sure, he gets killed in the end and does not succeed in blowing up city hall, but [[spoiler:Clyde has succeeded in both avenging his family's death and proving a point to Nick of why he shouldn't make deals with murderers. Not to mention he took out a bunch of law officials who were very bureaucratic rather than outright moral and forced Nick to stop him by means of using Clyde’s own bomb against him.]]

* BrokenAesop: The movie's central premise revolves around a man who is upset and frustrated with the justice system for being corrupt. Clyde's entire modus operandi stems from a feeling that the system needs to change and do better. The problem is that Clyde ultimately does such horrific things and acts like such a monster in the latter half of the movie that the message fails to keep on its feet and suddenly it becomes "Don't give any sympathy to criminals", which is functionally what Clyde was going for, but it can also be translated as "Violate the human rights of criminals because they're criminals" which has a terrible 'guilty before innocent' mindset.

** Clyde usually upholds his end of bargains (as long as the other side complies down to the minute), gives hints as to what he's going to do, and confesses when he's ready to. It's conspicuously averted when he tells the judge he's a [[TitleDrop law-abiding citizen]], though (in other words, he tells the truth everywhere except in court). He also falsely tells Darby that he tazed a male cop.
*** Technically, [[spoiler:he did taze a male cop, Darby just assumed that the tazed cop was in the front seat of the cop car, not in its trunk]].

** Also, Nick has a wife and daughter just like Clyde used to. Especially after his daughter gets the DVD in the mail, it's implied Clyde might go after them so Nick will know how it feels to lose them. He never does and backs off after Nick makes it clear that if Clyde even thinks about going after his family, he's finished.

* DisproportionateRetribution: This film could have had this trope name for its title. Clyde watches the murder of his wife and child, and Rice cuts a deal (against Clyde's wishes) that sends the accomplice to death row and the real killer back to the streets. Ten years later, Clyde gets his revenge (including a bonus punishment for the already-condemned man), then tries to destroy the entire US legal system, all while leaving Nick alive so he can witness the devastating consequences of a unjustifiable decision made a decade ago. He also [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil kills a lot of people]] [[MisplacedRetribution who had little to nothing to do with the deal]], including Nick's assistant.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: A rare 'heroic' example, as Nick has trouble recalling Darby's name despite his misdeeds.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Clyde's RoaringRampageOfRevenge is stopped by Nick, who learns his lesson about making deals with criminals and finally attends his daughter's concert. However, a lot of innocent people are dead and Clyde's death is [[AlasPoorVillain treated sympathetically.]]]]

* BestServedCold: Clyde spends ten years plotting his revenge (he says it's not about revenge, but it's definitely at the root of it) against [[spoiler:the entire justice system]].

* HateSink: Darby is made to be as loathsome as possible. This is to make Clyde, who would otherwise been a vile fiend, rootable in comparison, and to give the audience the satisfaction when Clyde ends up torturing Darby to death.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Clyde. From family man (that had a pretty horrendous past, but that's something he'd retired from) to criminal mastermind that organizes one of the worst InUniverse terrorist sprees in American soil since Nine-Eleven.

Ten years later, Ames's execution goes awry and the police find Darby dead. Rice has Shelton arrested for the acts, and, to Rice's surprise, Shelton comes clean and admits to the killings. But he isn't done, not by a long shot, and he gives Rice an ultimatum: fix the system that destroyed his life, or he destroys ''everything''. To back up his threat, several officials involved in Ames' and Darby's trial are killed -- despite the fact that Shelton is still in custody. Rice begins to realize there is more to Shelton that meets the eye, and resolves to stop whatever plan Shelton has set in motion. But Shelton is a man who has lost everything dear to him, meaning he has nothing to lose...and his sights aren't just set on avenging his wife and daughter, but bringing down the entire system that robbed him of justice.

Clyde Shelton (Butler), a talented engineer and family man, watches his life fall apart before his eyes when thugs Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte) and Rupert Ames (Creator/JoshStewart) break into his house, which results in the death of his wife and daughter right in front of him. Prosecutor Nick Rice (Foxx) only has circumstantial evidence on Darby, who committed the murders, so, in order to maintain his high conviction rate, Rice gives Darby a sweet plea bargain in exchange for testimony against the less-guilty Ames (who receives the death penalty) – against Clyde's wishes.