Law Abiding Citizen

| After learning that one of the people responsible for the deaths of his family would be released as part of a plea deal, a distraught man makes the decision to seek revenge on his own. He is not just going after the murderer, but also the district attorney and others who were involved in the transaction.

CAST

Clyde is a tinkerer. His daughter has followed in his footsteps and made a bracelet for him and is now making one for mommy. Clyde's the wife asks him to open the door. When he does, he is knocked down and two burglars enter the house.They tie Clyde's hands and rob the house. One of the burglars, Darby, says, "You can't fight fate," and stabs Clyde. Darby's accomplice, Rupert, tries to get out, but is only told to shut up.

Clyde is forced to witness the rape and murder of his wife, and when his young daughter shows up, She is not exempt from this fate either. Career-minded prosecutor Nick talks to his colleague about the Clyde case. The matter got out of hand last night because a judge ruled that DNA from the crime scene was nadmissible. He decided to take a plea deal rather than go to trial with the case. He's not taking any chances, saying, "Some justice is better than no justice at all." Nick meets with Clyde, who hands him notes that he thinks might help with the case.

Nick puts the notes aside and says that Darby has agreed to testify against Rupert,who will go to death row with his testimony. Darby will be sentenced up to 5 years in prison. Clyde, already emotionally scarred, is in disbelief. He begs Nick not to take the deal, but it's already been decided. That's how the justice system works, it's not about what you know, it's about what you can prove. Nick says it's a win for them, as if spitting in Clyde's face. In the courtroom, the whole incident was staged as if Rupert was the main culprit.

Darby quietly makes fun of Nick's wife, as if she is next and signs the plea deal. Outside, Nick makes a statement to the press about the ruling and Darby sarcastically thanks him for being in his corner. It's nice when the system works. Nick watches from a distance, still shocked at how unfair everything is. After a hard day at work, Nick comes home to his wife, Kelly, and to calm his nerves, he talks to his daughter in his wife's belly. 10 years later. Nick's daughter has grown up, but he is as busy as ever. Once again he has to skip his daughter's recital at school, and Kelly is unhappy that he is neglecting his daughter's life so much because of his work.

Today is the day Rupert is to be executed by lethal injection and Nick is present with his co-worker Sarah. He witnesses the execution instead of his daughter's recital. Rupert's last words are that he wasn't the one responsible for the death of Clyde's family. That doesn't sit well with Sarah and Nick. Rupert is injected with 3 drugs, administered in a specific order. Instead of dying painlessly, he begins to shake and scream in pain and dies an agonizing death. Bravo, what a great show. The warden explains that they are not responsible for the man's agony, it has never happened before.

A policeman arrives and hands the prosecutors a bottle with the phrase "can't fight fate" written on it. Nick recognizes this phrase and the police look into Darby and find his whereabouts. At Darby's, who is sniffing flour, he receives a call. The voice is muffled and tells everything there is to know about him. Darby becomes paranoid.

The voice tells him to look out the window. He sees police approaching him from all sides. Darby rushes outside and fires a few shots at police cars.He gets another call from the muffled voice telling him that if he wants to stay out of in prison he has to lose the gun and head toward the abandoned factory. Darby does as he is told. Fortunately, on the way there, he finds an officer asleep in his car. He gets in, grabs his gun, and forces him to drive. They stop at a deserted location. Darby drags him out and tells him to get on his knees, but before that, Darby takes a call and learns that his rescuer was none other than Clyde himself. Darby tries to shoot him, but it is a trap gun, Instead he is injected with a paralyzing serum, but he remains conscious. In other words, Darby cannot move, but he feels everything. Clyde then restrains him at his warehouse and tells Darby that he will feel pain that he has never felt before. He has made all the necessary preparations to delay his death for as long as possible. Before he begins the torture, Clyde tells him that he knows what it's like to be helpless, just as he was 10 years ago. "You can't fight fate." He starts the recording and begins to dismember Darby.

Nick and Sarah discuss the tampering with lethal injection. Nick feels that Darby had nothing to do with it because he doesn't have the brains to pull it off. A while later, the police find Darby in 25 pieces. They notify Nick of the gruesome sight. Sarah realizes that the only person who has a motive is Clyde. He has sold all his assets in recent years, buying properties in bizarre places. He also owns the warehouse where Darby was found. The police brigade is on its way to Clyde's house, who is calmly undressing when he hears the sirens.

They surround his house and Clyde receives them warmly, but naked. He is arrested and on the way to the car he gives Nick a threatening stare. In Clyde's place they find books on law and a torn out piece of newspaper on which Nick and Darby shake hands. They have Clyde handcuffed in a jail’s interrogation room, Unfortunately they have no evidence against him and can only hope for a confession. Nick's daughter receives a recording of what is supposed to be her recital and begs her mom to watch it, but she turns her down, saying they will watch it with her father.

Nick's daughter quietly in the DVD. It is not her recital, but Clyde cutting up Darby. Nick confronts Clyde. He turns off the live feed and puts on a little act, as if Clyde has done the right thing. Clyde confesses in a roundabout way that he wanted to kill Darby and Rupert and has been going over and over in his head on how to kill them. Nick takes this as his confession and starts to head out, but Clyde stops him, carefully explaining Nick's daily routine and telling him to sit down, even though Nick says they are done here. Clyde says that anything he told him is inadmissible because he never directly said he killed anyone and knows they have no proof.

Eventhough Darby was found dead in Clyde's warehouse, Clyde owns numerous properties across the country and can say it was a set-up. Nick says they know he did it, but "it's not about what you know, it's about what you can prove." Clyde says he will give his full confession if Nick can do something for him. Clyde wants a bed and Nick's ego gets the better of him, "f*** no." Nick's supervisor, Jonas, scolds him for not taking the deal. A confession for a mattress when

There is no evidence it is pretty good. Nick firmly believes that Clyde is playing with them. Jonas once again advises him to make the deal. Clyde gets the mattress he wanted, someone already is eyeing it out at prison. The warden expresses his dissatisfaction with Clyde. In the courtroom, Nick pleads to deny Clyde bail. In his defense, he claims to be a law-abiding citizen and Nick does not have a shred of evidence to keep him detained without bail. The judge is inclined to agree with Clyde. Nick says that Clyde agreed to give his full confession, but he did not. At that moment, Clyde starts to applaud, saying that she would just let a murderer go after giving her some sweet lines. Is this true? Everyone is shocked, as he berates the judge a few more times for being misguided before being escorted out. Bail denied. Later, in the interrogation room, Clyde describes the tape he sent him as, "good triumphs over evil," and as promised, he admits that it was him on the tape. He goes on to say that he has one more confession to make, but he needs something in return. Nick is tired of hearing his BS.

Clyde mentions that he wants a 20-ounce steak, medium-rare, and an iPod in prison for lunch. Before Nick leaves, Clyde offers him the life of Bill Reynolds as his confession. Bill was Darby's lawyer. Nick returns and Sarah says that Bill has been missing for 3 days. Clyde speaks into the camera, addressing Nick and saying that if he wants Bill alive, He must meet his demands tomorrow at exactly 1pm. The next day they get the steak delivered to prison, but 5 minutes before 1pm the warden decides to double check the prosecutors. When they arrive at Clyde's with the meal, they are 8 minutes late. He still keeps his cool and tells them the whereabouts of Bill. He also tells them that the 1pm appointment was not for him, but for Bill, so they better hurry. Nick rushes to a helicopter and they fly to the scene while Clyde listens to his iPod and enjoys the steak with his cellmate, who had just threatened him.

They quickly become “good friends”, but it is all an act by Clyde, who was after the t-bone from the steak. He turns up the music and gives the controller to the cellmate to distract him while he stabs him in the neck. The guards come to Clyde's cell and the warden is furious. Nick has found Bill buried with an oxygen mask. He's dead. It took them 15 minutes to get there from the prison. So if Clyde had gotten his lunch in time, Bill would still be alive. Nick receives a message from Sarah telling him that Clyde murdered his cellmate and the warden is moving him to solitary. Nick visits Clyde in his solitary confinement, asking what is the point of killing all these people. Clyde wants to hold all people accountable for their actions. Nick gives Clyde his daughter's bracelet and asks if his family would be proud of him taking vengeance in their name, but his wife and daughter can’t feel anything, they are dead. Nick and Jonas meet a government official who has more information about Clyde.

He says that Clyde is a born tactician who kills people without being in the same room with them.If Clyde is in prison, that means he wanted to be there. The cellmate he killed was not random, this is a pawn that was removed from the board and he suggests they look for the next piece.

The official tells Nick that the only way to stop Clyde is to go into his cell and put a bullet in his head, because otherwise he can not stop him, since he's targeting everyone who was involved in his family's case. As he leaves he says, "If Clyde wants you dead... you're dead" With this information, Nick and Jonas come to the judge and asks to violate Clyde's civil rights and restrict visitation to ensure everyone's safety. She agrees and signs a document. Her cell phone rings and when she answers it, it blows up. They are shocked. Nick visits Clyde in an interrogation room at the prison. He asks him about his accomplice and what the point of this revenge is. Clyde gets angry because Nick still does not understand what it is all about. If he wanted revenge, he would have slaughtered his family in the last 10 years.

Clyde gives Nick one last chance: release him by 6am or everyone will die. Clyde is escorted to a maximum solitary by a number of guards. Nick and Sarah meet at a prison where they go through documents, to find any clues on who is helping Clyde from the outside, but without luck. Sarah starts to doubt if their decision to take the deal with Derby at the time was right. Nick assures her it was. The DA staff stays until 6 am, then Nick sends everyone home to rest. When Sarah starts her car, the bombs attached to the cars explode, killing everyone, including Sarah.

Since Clyde is still imprisoned, Nick is sure someone is helping him. 6 officers have been killed. Nick and Jonas meet the Mayor, who can not imagine how one arrested man can do so much damage. She appoints the two security guards. Nick sends his family to a safe place and calls it a vacation. No credit cards or cell phones, nothing that could give away their location. When Nick comes back inside, he notices the framed newspaper article, which means someone has been in his house. Back at the prison, Clyde is let out for a walk and is greeted by Nick and the detective.

Out of anger, Nick beats Clyde, who only says that it's good that he's angry, he's just warming up. The detective pulls a gun, but Nick stops him. Clyde says that what Nick is going to witness will be biblical. At Sarah's funeral, Jones thinks they brought this on themselves, but Nick still believes they did the right thing, but is beginning to doubt himself.

As they drive away, a man in black clothing is controlling a military drone armed with a machine gun, a EMP and rocket launcher. Hedisables the cars and they come to a stop. Jonas' car is riddled with anti-tank rounds and to make sure Jonas is done for, he blows up the car. The mayor can not believe Nick let this go on for so long. She wants to fire him, but to reduce media pressure on her, she appoints him as the new district attorney. The mayor of Philadelphia has issued an emergency order to lock down the entire city; no one is allowed to move unrestricted in the city. Nick receives an email from Sarah's contact. It's about real estate that Clyde bought.

He finds all the properties sold in Philadelphia in the last 10 years and compares the amounts.

Nick finds out that Clyde owns a small garage, not far from the prison. He and the detective meet to check out the garage. They find a hole in the floor. It is a tunnel that Clyde dug that goes directly under the prison. Clyde made an entrance into every single cell. That's why he killed his cellmate, that was his plan all along.

The detective checks Clyde's cell, but he's not there. Disguised as a janitor, Clyde gets past security and into City Hall through a light check. The detective and Nick find that Clyde has cameras everywhere, even in Nick's house and a quote from Von Claysewitz about the "center of gravity" - in this case, City Hall. Clyde plants napalm bomb to kill Mayor, who will soon hold a security meeting. Nick and the detective arrive soon after. As a precaution, they must proceed quietly so as not to alert Clyde that they are on to him.

They notice Clyde's cart on the 5th floor, just below the conference room. They find a suitcase,which they suspect is the bomb. The bomb squad man opens thesuitcase and says the bomb is activated by cell phone and could go off at any moment. Some agents assigned to monitor Clyde's warehouse notice him pull up and notify Nick. Clyde goes to his equipment in the tunnel and watches as the meeting begins.

He grabs his cell phone and climbs to his cell. In his cell, Clyde is startled by Nick. He has a gun and asks Clyde to do the right thing, giving him a way out. Clyde asks if he is here to make one last deal. Nick says he's finally learned what Clyde has been trying to tell him all along, "I do not make deals with murderers." Nick tells him not to do it, that it's a decision he'll have to live with for the rest of his life. Clyde says he's sorry and calls the number. Nick leaves and says that by the rest of his life he meant about 25 seconds as the detective locks his tunnel door. Nick has placed the suitcase with the bomb under Clyde's bed.