Law Abiding Citizen (2009) - full transcript

He's got IV lines
going to his-

He's got him cuffed!

Listen, you got your keys
to the cuffs?

- Mmm!
- Mmm.

Shit.

Oh, God, I'm so happy.

Your lucky day, huh?
Get some food.

Here, wanna take a shot at this?

- What is it?
- Know how to use it?

No.

Oh, shit! Check this out!



He's crazy!

Don't stop now, partner!

Finish him, come on!
Take his head off!

Take it off!

I need a shower, Warden.

Get him out of there!

Dunnigan, what time do you have?

- 1:37.
- Took us roughly 15 minutes to get here.

Yeah?

Reynolds's air was rigged to
shut off at 1:15.

If Shelton would have got
his lunch on time, he'd still be alive.

Fuck this guy, Nick.

He wants to play games,
we can play games too.

We need to take the gloves off.



No.

Nick, it's Sarah.
Listen, Clyde murdered his cell-mate.

The warden is furious.
He's moving him to solitary.

That's all I know right now.

We found Reynolds.

It was too late,
from what I hear.

I had to call his wife and tell her
that her husband had been buried alive.

Justice should be harsh, Nick,

but especially for those
who denied it to others.

And your cell-mate?
What was that about?

You murdered a man
because your lunch was late.

No.

No. No, you murdered him
because you couldn't keep your word.

We made a deal, you and I:
1:00 PM.

That's a pretty important principle
I'd like you start learning, Nick:

- keeping your word.
- Oh, really?

What principle was at work when
you tortured and killed those people?

That everyone must be held
accountable for their actions.

You think your wife
and daughter would feel good

about you killing in their name?

My wife and daughter
can't feel anything.

They're dead.

Hey, Nick?

On Clyde's real estate,
Judge Stansfield shut us down.

He's looking for some sort of
legal precedent that I'm not sure exists.

- But?
- But...

I think I may have found
a way around it.

- I'm gonna call in a favor from a friend.
- Who's your friend?

You don't name your friends
or they stop doing you favors.

Something else Cantrell said.

No, that was all you.
Jonas, hi.

She's thinking just like you, Nick.
Guess you trained her well.

- One day she'll have my job.
- Let's get some air.

Clyde's government contract payments
were bothering me,

so I pulled some ancient strings.
We're meeting someone.

Who might that be?

Someone who does some really nasty shit
so we can live the American dream.

So Clyde finally lost it?

Somebody must have
really pissed him off.

You worked with Shelton,
is that right?

Okay, first of all,
I was never here and we never spoke.

Tell us what we're dealing with.
Shelton was a spy or-

Spies are a dime a dozen.
I'm a spy.

Clyde is a brain.
He's a think-tank type guy.

His speciality was low-impact
kinetic operations.

Is this a hell of a fancy way
to say that he kills people?

We kill people.

He figured out how to do it
without ever being in the same room.

It was his gift,
and he was the best.

One time we're tasking
this tricky target.

I mean, we're using cruise missiles
and predators

and we even had a B-2 bomber
flatten this guy's villa with a JDAM.

All right? We're burning up
millions in ordnance

and we're getting nowhere
with this guy.

So we call Clyde and
we ask him to solve our problem.

Clyde develops a Kevlar thread

with a high-tech ratchet
made of carbon fiber

put in a necktie.

Two days later, Mrs. Bad Guy
comes home,

finds Mr. Bad Guy dead
on the bathroom tile,

choked to death.

What I'm saying is, just assume
that this guy can hear and see

everything that you're doing.

No, we've got him locked away,
maximum security.

If he's in jail, it's because
he wants to be in jail.

He's a born tactician. Every move
that he makes, it means something.

That cell-mate that he killed-
you think that was random?

No.

That's a pawn being
moved off the board.

If I were you,
I'd be looking for the next piece.

Anybody who had anything
to do with that case,

he's gonna be coming after you.

So what are you saying?
You saying we can't stop him?

Walk into his cell
and put a bullet in his head.

Aside from that?
No, you can't stop him.

If Clyde wants you dead,
you're dead.

- Hello?
- Sarah? Sarah, it's Nick.

Set up a meeting
with Judge Burch.

We need her to help us
keep Clyde on ice.

Help us with what, Nick?
The man's in prison.

He's worse than we thought.

- Chester's your boyfriend, right?
- Chester.

Yeah.

Good. Maybe stay a few days
at his place.

And have Dunnigan send
a patrol car to my house.

Sorry about this, Sarah.

I can't supersede the penal code.

You've already got him in solitary.

A half-decent paralegal will have him
out of there by next week.

We just want to limit his options;

give him less contact,
less access,

even if it's just rescinding
his mandatory exercise period for a week.

- Under what cause?
- Whatever cause you want.

Wrap it around whatever
piece of legal doctrine

that helps you rationalize it,
Your Honor.

So let me get this straight:

you want me to violate
his God-given civil rights

in the name of some murky sense
of the greater good.

Is that the gist of it, gentlemen?

Okay. I'm game.

Just don't plan
on it sticking for long, all right?

Wait, you're gonna take that,

after all the grief you've
given me over cell phones?

That's one of the benefits of
being a judge, Mr. Rice.

I can pretty much do
whatever I want.

Hello?

Oh my God.

Back out. Back out.

So you're killing judges now?

In my experience, Nick, lessons not
learned in blood are soon forgotten.

And vengeance keeps you
warm at night.

Vengeance?

That's what you think this is about?
Vengeance?

What else could it be?

No, Nick, I had 10 years
for vengeance, if that's what I wanted.

You don't think that I watch you
go to work every morning at 8:00 AM?

Or that I watch Kelly take Denise
to school, 8:15?

No, I could have slaughtered you
or your family anytime I wanted!

You even think about
touching my family-

you even think about touching
my family...

I do my job.

I'm the best at it.

- It works.
- You were doing your job

the way that best served you, Nick-
the way that best served you.

- That has to change.
- What do you want, Clyde?

You at war with the whole world?
It's not gonna bring anybody back.

No, I'm at war with this-

this- this broken thing-

this thing that brought
you and I together.

This broken thing works
for people that are sane.

You think doing what you're doing
is gonna change anything?

You and whoever else
you have helping you

are gonna pay.

I don't think you have any idea
who's helping me or what I'm doing.

It's a matter of time.

See, you see the bodies,
you see the smoke,

but the larger picture
still eludes you.

Do tell.

I would like to...

but I would rather show you.

I still have faith in you,
so I'm gonna give you one last chance.

Here's the deal:

release me and drop
all charges by 6:00 AM.

- 6:00 AM, Nick.
- Or what?

Or I kill everyone.

- Hello?
- Yeah, Sarah,

he has to have an accomplice-
probably somebody inside the prison.

We have to go through all the prisoners'
files to find some sort of connection.

Do you want the files
brought to the office?

No, there isn't time. Get everybody
together and bring them to the prison.

We're moving in.

Stop looking at your watch.

Anything from your friend?

This treaty with Panama is a mess.

We can't access anything about
specific property holdings,

but my friend found
this tiny loophole

that grants us access to
Clyde's corporate expenses.

Does that help?

So we match sales prices
of industrial properties sold in Philly

up against purchases made
by his corporation.

Okay, I got it.

- Hey, Nick, can I ask you something?
- Hmm?

Would you do it
the same way now?

Would you still cut
a deal for Darby?

This is the job, Sarah.
We have to make choices.

- But did you make the right choice?
- We made the right choice, right?

I don't know.

I'm 35, Nick.

And there are things- there are
possibilities that I'm not gonna have now.

And it's okay.
I know it's part of the deal.

And don't get me wrong.
I love working for you.

But I just want to make sure
I gave up those things

for more than just
a high conviction rate.

All right.

All right, let's just get focused here.
This guy's not God.

He's not the All Powerful.
He's just well-prepared.

We need to be equally
well-prepared.

Take a couple of hours, go home,
come back. We'll get a fresh start.

Okay?

Come on, old man, let's see if
we can find you some breakfast.

Hey, Nick, get some rest.

Give Chester my regards.
When do I get to meet him?

Oh, he's not ready for that.

'Night, Jonas.

I don't know how
this one's gonna turn out, Nick.

We're gonna stop him.
That's how it's gonna turn out.

Ahh!

Ahh!

Sarah.

Sarah.

In the past 48 hours,
six officials from the Justice Department

have been killed in a series of vicious
and premeditated attacks.

This marks the first time in
the history of the United States

where government officials have been,
by all appearances,

systematically murdered.

We'll continue to follow this story
and bring you up-to-the-minute details...

Nick, I'm sorry to have to
do this now, but we've got something here.

Found this right outside the wall-

radio beacon-

sent an arming signal to the car bombs
when they went through the gate.

Security said they checked
every car before anybody got in them.

They didn't check the gas tanks.
That's where the clever prick put 'em.

Real precise stuff too.

Could have taken out
a lot more if he wanted to.

- What about Nick's car?
- That's the weird thing.

It's clean-
hadn't been touched.

I gotta go.

Jesus Christ.

Privacy, please.

So let me get this straight:

not only do we
know who did it,

we have him locked up
and he's still killing people?

You boys sure
fucked this one up.

The press is gonna kill us.

Can someone explain this to me?

We can't yet.

How did this get away
from you, Jonas?

It's complicated, April.

He's very smart.
He's very angry.

We assume he has an accomplice
helping him on the outside.

I'm not having
this conversation.

I don't care how smart he is
or who's helping him.

We'll release a statement saying
we have suspects, we're following leads-

- nothing alarming.
- Mayor, you have my word,

we are gonna stop this guy.
He's not gonna hurt anybody else.

I'm assigning security to
each of you from now on.

Get this situation
under control, gentlemen.

No phone calls, no credit cards,
no computers- just cash.

Daddy, are you coming?

Oh, yeah, of course.

- Of course I am.
- You'd better, Nick.

- We need to go!
- I love you.

Come on, baby.

- Love you, Daddy.
- Love you too.

- Nick, your phone lines are clear.
- Good.

No bugs; nothing's been tampered with.
You're good.

You should have taken my deal.

That's six fucking innocent people.
Is that how you want to play it? Huh?

It's okay.
It's okay, Nick. I know you're angry.

That's good. That's what it takes.
That's how it has to be.

What if I said you was right
and I was wrong?

What if I had said, " Well,
let's take them to trial"? Huh?

Then I would say
you're making progress.

And we might have lost!
And Ames and Darby would both go free.

Don't you get that?

Fuck.

You didn't care, Nick.
You didn't even try.

You could have walked out of
that courtroom with your head held high.

I could have lived with that, Nick.

I keep my head up.

And you will end this.

I'm just getting warmed up.

This is Von Clausewitz shit-
total fucking war.

I'm gonna pull
the whole thing down.

I'm gonna bring the whole
fucking diseased, corrupt temple

down on your head.

It's gonna be Biblical.

Jesus, Nick, she was a good kid.

Did we bring this all on ourselves?

Absolutely not.

You don't actually believe that,
do you?

Gentlemen? Sorry,
but we need to get going

if we're going to make it
to the press conference.

Everybody stay sharp.

We're on the move.

- We all right?
- It's dead.

Electrical system's fried.

What's going on back there?

Dunnigan, tell them to
get Jonas away from here.

What the fuck is that?

Get down, get down!

Jonas! Jonas!

- Jonas! Jonas!
- No, Nick! Get back!

Jonas! Get your hands off me!

Jonas! Get out of the car!
Jonas!

Get out of the car! Get off of me!

Please listen to me!

Jonas!

Jonas.

I told you to handle this.

You didn't.

Now we have a jailed psychopath

that's managed to bring this
entire city to its knees.

One of my friends
was just murdered.

More than one of my friends
is gone, Mayor.

What I should do is fire you.

Hmm?
Right now.

I resign.

- Is that your real answer?
- I think that's best.

No.

I'm not gonna allow that to happen.
Bring me the Bible.

I'm not gonna let some criminal decide
whether Philadelphia has a DA or not.

As of now, you're acting
District Attorney.

We'll have a formal
swearing in later.

For now this will suffice.
Stand up.

Put your left hand on the Bible.
Raise your right hand.

Repeat after me.

- I, Nicolas Rice...
- I, Nicolas Rice...

- ... do solemnly swear...
- ... do solemnly swear...

- ... that I will support...
- ... that I will support...

- ... obey...
- ... obey...

...and defend the Constitution
of the United States...

...and defend the
Constitution of the United States...

...and the Constitution of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...

People aren't going to work;
kids aren't going to school.

They're scared,
and I don't blame them.

So I'm implementing the emergency
provision of the Philadelphia code.

We're gonna lock this city down.

Starting now, no one moves in
this city unrestricted.

I want a show of force
for the public-

uniforms, detectives,
12-hour shifts.

Put an armed cop on every corner.

If you have to give shotguns
to the meter maids, do it.

There should be no doubt
in people's minds

that this city is secure
and under our control.

Okay.

Okay, Clyde.
I get it.

Listen, that contraption
that killed Cantrell,

it was a weaponized
bomb-disposal robot.

Can you believe that?

Damn thing had video, night vision-
you name it.

It's like military API,
for Christ's sakes.

That's anti-tank rounds, Nick.

I think he's saving you for last.

Nick, I'm serious.

I appreciate the insight.

Nick, you gotta get in front of
this guy if you want to stay alive.

I may have a way-

something a friend
is helping me out with.

Who's your friend?

A friend named Chester.
I'll call you back.

Thank you, Sarah.

This is Nick.
Give me the real-estate listing

of every industrial property sold
here in the last 10 years.

Motherfucker.

You're kidding me, right?

You're saying Clyde
owns this place?

Something about it
sticks out, right?

Yeah.

What- are you gonna do
what I think you're gonna do?

- What about his civil rights?
- Fuck his civil rights.

Yes!

There's got to be
something in here.

Yeah.

Remember this from
outside the house?

Yeah.

Get that right there.

Un-fucking-believable.

Look at this.

Watch your step.

This guy tunneled into prison?

Oh, shit.

Fuck- Semtex.

Got police uniforms,
other disguises.

He tunneled into every cell.

Over here.

He wanted to be
transferred to solitary.

Surprise, motherfucker.

- He's not here!
- If he's not there, then where is he?

Nomos, what happened to your eye?

Oh, long story.

Stop right there, sir.

Let me see your ID, please.

- Yeah, sure.
- Thank you.

Turn around, sir.
Extend your arms.

Something going on tonight?

- The mayor.
- Mmm, mayor.

Look at this.

He tapped into the prison cameras.

Jesus, he's got
cameras everywhere.

Von Clausewitz.

Look at that.

He's at City Hall.

You're free to go, sir.

- Sorry for the inconvenience, sir.
- No, don't worry about it.

Better to be safe
than sorry, right?

Get ready to evacuate the building.

We'll need a tactical unit
and a bomb squad.

Bad idea.
Have them come in soft.

If Shelton spots them or
any of us, we're fucked.

Hey.

- Where's the tactical team?
- En route.

- They're coming in soft- no sirens.
- Bomb squad?

You're looking at it.

Right, okay. We take the north surge;
you take the west.

We'll call.

- Whoa whoa whoa whoa.
- IDs, please.

- He's the fucking DA.
- Good for him. IDs, please.

What's going on here tonight?

- Security meeting with all the brass.
- What floor?

6th floor- caucus room.

- What floor is this?
- That's the 5th floor, sir.

Directly below the caucus room.

You catch this motherfucker red-handed,
we gotta take him alive.

Where is he?

What the fuck are we looking for?

Wait wait wait.

Right there.

Stand back.
Don't touch anything.

It wasn't exactly my first instinct.

Can I see your ID, please?

All right, next car, pull forward!

Malglinite.

That's napalm, basically.
This shit'll take out the entire floor

and the one above us.

Looks like it's - looks like it's triggered
by this cell phone here.

What?
So an incoming call arms it?

Yeah. Maybe 30 seconds
till boom time.

- Jesus.
- Dunnigan, what are you doing?

- I'm calling the mayor's security.
- We can't.

Clyde is watching. He sees him evacuate
and he will detonate this thing.

We don't tell the mayor anything.

So what do we do?

Wait a second.

We've got something.

He's pulling up.

Thank you for coming in
on short notice.

I have one simple question.

Why is Clyde Shelton still in my city?

Now I refuse to believe

that one man is smarter
than Homeland Security,

the FBI, the sheriff's department,
or Philly PD.

I don't care how we do it,

or what kind of obscure legal
justification we have to invoke, gentlemen.

I don't care what laws
we have to bend.

I am sure that there is a provision
of the Homeland Security Act

that we can activate.

Just get him out of here
by tomorrow.

Clyde?

Nick.

I wasn't expecting company.

Yeah, I would have-
I would have cleaned up a little.

Never seen anybody
tunnel into prison before.

And the solitary confinement?
That was clever.

Well, that's how winners play.

We convince the other guy
he's making all the right moves.

So did you ever catch my accomplice?

Yeah, I did.

It's the end of the road
for you now.

You played us, Clyde.
You played us real good.

Thank you.

You know, I'm glad you finally
get to appreciate

some of the effort that
I put into all of this.

Well, you set out to
make a point, Clyde.

You made it.

No, people still don't get it.

They don't appreciate what I'm trying
to say, Nick, but they will soon enough.

A man I cared about
once told me

that we can't retract
the decisions that we've made,

we can only affect the decisions
we're going to make from here.

- Are you trying to save me now, Nick?
- I'm giving you a way out.

Big difference.

Stand up for those principles
you've been preaching.

See, we're all held accountable, Clyde.
That includes you.

Why don't we do
the right thing here?

I'm doing the right thing, Nick.

You just have to see it that way.

By murdering all those people,

all you're doing is
destroying the memory of your daughter

and causing the same pain
that you're suffering from.

So what do you suggest, Nick?
Make another deal?

One final offer?
Is that what it is?

I don't make deals with
murderers anymore, Clyde.

You taught me that.

Finally.

Well done. Bravo.

Maybe I wasn't such
a bad teacher after all.

If you go through with this, Clyde,
it's a decision

you'll have to live with
for the rest of your life.

I'm sorry, Nick.

Me too.

Like I said, Clyde,

it's a decision you'll have to
live with for the rest of your life,

which I figure by now
is about 25 more seconds.

# Ain't seen a night #

# Things work out right #

# Go by #

# Things on my mind #

# And I just don't have the time #

# And it don't seem right #

# Ain't seen a day #

# That I don't hear people say #

# They know they're gonna die #

# This may seem a little bit crazy #

# But I don't think you
should be so lazy #

# If you think
you've heard this before #

# Well, stick around,
I'm gonna tell you more #

# One just like the other #

# Sin's a good man's brother #

# But is that right? #

# You tell me that I don't #

# Then I say I won't #

# But then I might #

# You said this is the way
it's supposed to be #

# But it just don't seem
right to me #

# And that's outta sight #

# Some folks need an education #

# Don't give up
or we'll lose the nation #

# You say we need a revolution? #

# It seems to be
the only solution. #