Traumatized by the atrocious murders of his wife and daughter — and the flawed justice system that set the killers free — Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) gives in to his rage and sets out on a course of vengeance. He soon takes on not only the prosecutor involved in the case, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), but also the city of Philadelphia. Director F. Gary Gray’s bold crime thriller co-stars Viola Davis and Michael Gambon.

That synopsis is not all that accurate but it made me rent the movie. That coupled with the fact that it was a new release on Netflix of course! The film starts with out with Clyde sitting in a hobby room spending time building something while chatting it up with his young daughter. The bell rings and we are led to believe it’s a delivery guy from some restaurant with a meal to drop off. Surprise! It’s a home invasion! His wife is raped and murdered and I’m under the assumption the same fate befalls his daughter. The prosecutor played by Jaime Foxx accepts a plea bargain on behalf of the killer. The killer serves a five year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea and his agreement to testify against his accomplice. His accomplice is subsequently sentenced to death. Clyde is furious upon hearing the news and spends the next 10 years plotting his revenge.

Highlights:
Learning that Clyde, whom I thought was just a mild mannered business man was a former consultant for the CIA. He developed methods for killing people that the CIA couldn’t get their own in house assassins near. Listen really closely to the DA’s conversation with a former associate of Clyde’s as he describes a necktie Clyde developed that had a high tensile thread inserted into it along with a carbon fiber wench that was used to choke a CIA target to death. After sharing a few harrowing tales about Clyde’s job history, it is strongly recommended that they deal with him by shooting him in the head. Watching the judge that presided over the case having her brains blown out by a focused explosion projected from a cellphone receiver caught me off guard too!

I have to warn you though, I won’t spoil the ending for you but I didn’t like it. That’s all I’m going to say about it. Having said that, I still think it’s worth a watch.

Director:
F. Gary Gray

Cast:
Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Leslie Bibb, Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Viola Davis, Michael Irby, Regina Hall, Gregory Itzin, Michael Kelly, Michael Gambon