A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 5 nominations
- Denise Rice
- (as Emerald Angel Young)
- Rupert Ames
- (as Joshua Stewart)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector F. Gary Gray decided to use Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse as the restaurant that caters Clyde's lunch after dining there several times during filming. The restaurant was also the location of the film's after-party following its screening at the Philadelphia Film Festival.
- GoofsThe instant the neurotoxin hit Darby's system he would have fallen down due to being paralyzed. He would not have been able to just stand there, motionless, as muscles are still used when standing still. He also would not be shaking while lying on the table, even when Clyde injected the adrenaline.
- Quotes
Jonas Cantrell: Tell us what we're dealing with. Shelton was a spy?
Bray: Look, spies are a dime a dozen. I'm a spy. Clyde is a brain. He's a think tank-type guy. His specialty was low-impact kinetic operations.
Nick Rice: That's a hell of a fancy way to say that he kills people.
Bray: 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 usin' cruise missiles and Predators, and we even had a B-2 Bomber flatten this guy's villa with JDAM. Alright, we're burnin' up millions in ordnance and we're gettin' 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 it 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 sayin' is, just assume that this guy can hear and see everything that you're doing.
Nick Rice: No. We got him locked away; maximum security.
Bray: 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 cellmate that he killed, what, you think that was random? No. That's a pawn being moved off the board. If I were you, I'd be lookin' for the next piece. Anybody who had anything to do with that case, he's gonna be comin' after you.
Nick Rice: So what are you sayin'? You sayin' we can't stop him?
Bray: 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.
- Alternate versionsThe Indian release has been censored. The television broadcast version is 101 minutes 35 seconds long, with a U/A certificate.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Jay Leno Show: Episode #1.19 (2009)
- SoundtracksMr. Tambourine Man
Written by Bob Dylan
Performed by The Studio Sound Ensemble
Courtesy of Countdown Media GmbH
The problem is, with about 30 minutes to go, the movie wants us to stop cheering on Clyde (Gerry Butler) and suddenly start thinking of Nick (Jamie Foxx) as the hero. That's not going to work, the audience has just invested about 90 minutes of wanting Clyde to continue with his vengeance. Damn right too.
The plot should have continued to its logical conclusion. Clyde was trying to teach Nick a lesson, that the system was so broken that it could only be fixed by being destroyed first. Rather than the squeaky-Hollywood-ending-slop they served up, here's what should have happened...
In the solitary confinement cell at the end, Jamie Foxx's character Nick should have taken the cell-phone from Clyde then remote-detonated the bomb at city hall, blowing up the mayor, the brass, the whole rotten system, then gone off to watch his daughter's cello recital.
Now, that ending would have been really insane, but it would have taken the movie to its logical conclusion. Nick's conversion would have been complete. As an ending, it would be right up there with Jimmy Cagney at the end of White Heat, 'Made it Ma, top of the world!' Morally dubious, yes, but it would have given us a bona-fide classic. It would be rating 9.8 here on IMDb rather than this insipid seven-point-bleh.
Oh, and the movie loses a point for Gerard Butler not using his own voice. Gerry is a Scot and has a fine Glasgow accent, he should use it.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- El vengador
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $50,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $73,357,727
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $21,039,502
- Oct 18, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $127,944,208
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1