“The law is an ass” was an utterance made by Mr Bumble in Charles Dickens’ classic novel Oliver Twist. It’s difficult then to think what dear old Mr Bumble would make of this dark thriller starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, where the US law causes quite a bloody mess.

It’s all happy families in the Shelton household, until a pair of ruffians barge into their home and murder mother and young daughter, leaving hubby Clyde(Butler)all tied up to watch the heinous crimes take place in front of his very eyes, until he passes out.

Looking after the case is ambitious assistant DA Nick Rice (Foxx) who, due to a lack of evidence and the strict letter of the law, strikes a deal with one of the killers; this means that his partner in crime gets to visit death row, while he literally gets away with murder, by only serving a few years in prison.

As you would expect, Clyde is not a happy bunny over this verdict. He decides that not only does the law need to be taught a lesson, but more importantly, those who manipulate it for their own use in a court of law need to be punished. For Clyde, revenge is most certainly a dish served with plenty of C4.

Look, I'm *really* sorry but the machine had ran out of cappuccino, so I thought you might like a hot chocolate instead.

With both Butler and Foxx (sounds like a shop that makes gentlemen’s hats) proving that they can both handle the action genre, it makes sense to have them appear in the same film. And to be fair to the duo, they put in performances way and above the call of duty. If only the same could be said for the story.

What could have been a clever indictment of the US legal system, quickly degenerates into a world of silliness. As the plot evolves it reveals itself to have more holes than Augusta during the US Masters. You really do need the mental strength of Derren Brown to suspend belief for such a length of time.

The problems begin to mount as soon as Butler’s character is exposed as being more than just a husband seeking rightful justice. It turns out he’s a one man walking A Team, full of rage and vengeance; and yet he waits ten years until he begins his campaign of revenge. Now that’s a long time to wait.

Director F. Gary Gray also struggles with the morality issues of the piece. The story is supposed to see-saw from audiences being sympathetic with Clyde, then tip in favour of Rice. The problem is Rice isn’t particularly likeable at any stage of proceedings. He also doesn’t do himself any favours with Clyde; even though the character becomes almost a caricature of evil by the end, he also remains pretty likeable, certainly more so than Rice. And despite making Clyde darker, you can still empathise with him considering all that he’s gone through.

It also doesn’t help that Gray appears to be a fan of the eighties blockbuster; in more than one scene Rice is interrogating Clyde in what appears to be a huge, domed birdcage. It’s large enough to house several immigrant families more than comfortably, and yet its sole purpose is to contain the brawn and minds of only two men. Tony Scott would have probably had them battling their brains out in this cerebral cage fight topless, but other than that it’s a perfect homage to a bygone age.

The truth is, well, this film can’t handle the truth. Gray obviously thought that having these two immense characters share a dinky holding cell together would have diminished the scene somehow. That may well have been the case – playing Devil’s Advocate (not a hope in hell) – but it would have been more believable.

But even though it tumbles into absurdity at an alarming rate, it still manages to be ridiculously entertaining. Law Abiding Citizen is a little like law itself: yes it does make a bit of an ass of itself, but watching it do so can be perversely enjoyable.