You’re not going to like him when he’s angry. Gerard Butler plays Clyde Shelton, a husband and father forced to witness the brutal killing of his wife and daughter. To add insult to injury, he is told by prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) that because of insufficient evidence, the real murderer has taken a plea deal while throwing his far-less guilty accomplice under the bus. 10 years later, Rice is still more interested in keeping up his near-flawless conviction rate than in actual justice, or his own family. Missing his daughter’s recital for the accomplice’s execution, he is surprised when the death goes more inhumanely than expected, but it’s nothing compared to the horrific death of the real murderer. Doesn’t take a genius to know Clyde , who is an engineer, is behind the two deaths. Arrested and charged with murder, Clyde begins orchestrating with precision even more killings from his jail cell, going after the justice department that wronged him.

Kurt Wimmer’s screenplay talks about right choices, the justice system’s ills, and of course, morality but the best part of “Law” is a smart, -character-driven dynamic, perfectly played by Foxx and Butler . Foxx is cocky and arrogant but is also a product of the system, where getting the win is the right and most important thing. And Butler is a mix of idealism and rage that must be unleashed. He’s in war mode, caring not for himself or the people he hurts, but for changing the system. Clyde toys with Nick and the system, exposing its hypocrisy in clever ways, while both men are engagingly flawed, believe their actions are righteous, and skew the line between hero and villain.

This is very similar to “The Negotiator”, another character-driven thriller directed by F. Gary Gray, who brings both style and suspense here. The violence is hard-core. Body parts are severed, things explode, computer-operated machineguns come out of no-where and blow people away, and there is a kill that comes mid-way that’s probably one of the best I’ve ever seen. Sure, some of the executions are too elaborate for even the smartest engineer and the tacked-on ending bypasses several loose ends but when the movie focuses on these two men, it’s a thrilling ride with a side of humanity.

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