A Few Good Men Opening Scene Analysis

The film’s opening scene shows Clyde Shelton, played by Gerard Butler, at home fixing some sort of gadget alongside his daughter as she makes a bracelet, while his wife cooks dinner in the kitchen. The first few minutes of the film give the impression of a happy family but the mood soon changes when Shelton is assaulted in his home by two robbers, Ames and Darby, resulting in the ruthless murder of his wife and daughter. Prosecutor Nick Rice, who is played by Jamie Foxx, is assigned to the case and both intruders are caught and taken to trial. However, having only circumstantial evidence and caring more about his conviction rate than seeing justice served, Rice offers Darby a plea bargain in exchange for him testifying against his accomplice, Ames, and is eventually released.
Shelton hoped to get justice through the system but when Darby gets off easy, he loses it. The film then skips forward to ten years after the murder, where Butler’s character begins to chase not only his family’s killers, but also everyone involved in the failure to …show more content…
The opening scene of the family is short, sweet, and creates all the bond you need to know before the murders set the rest of the movie in motion. From that point, and while Shelton gets his revenge, the film does two things incredibly well. The first is making you question what you would do, staring down on your family’s killer, helpless as he struggles against the table you’ve strapped him down to. The second is making you root for a man about to commit murder because the justice system fails him, a theme which continues throughout the film.
“The movie delivers an ethical monologue hidden in tense writing and situations” (Ebert C6). Law Abiding Citizen does not shy away from either displaying some harsh justice or hinting at it strongly enough to let the audiences imagine blood spill