How did Jamie Foxx get himself into this mess of a film? Recently, fans on the internet have been calling for Foxx’s Oscar to be taken back, after it was revealed that he’ll be appearing in drag alongside Martin Lawrence for an upcoming film called “Sheneneh and Wanda.” But my guess is that the latter won’t be half as degrading as “Law Abiding Citizen.” Directed by F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job”), this would-be serious action-thriller dresses itself up as an intelligent attack on the US legal system. As far as I can tell, the theme of terrorism is also meant to hover just beneath the surface. But you needn’t sit through more than a quarter of the film to realize that these are just pretexts for a graphic gorefest that revels in its own depictions of people getting butchered and blown up.

The film stars Foxx as Nick, a hotshot Philadelphia district attorney whose main concern in life is maintaining his stellar conviction rate. That’s until he meets Clyde (Gerard Butler, “300”), a client who saw his wife and daughter brutally murdered. Clyde wants full justice meted out to the two perpetrators of the crime, but Nick only manages to secure the death penalty for one of them. Ten years later, Clyde decides to take justice into his own hands. He wants revenge not only on the killer now walking loose, but on Nick and the legal system that failed him. In seeking it he manages to get himself locked up early on, and it’s from prison that he orchestrates his most deadly crimes. I won’t give away how he does, as it’s meant to be a surprise, but the explanation turns out to be as ludicrous as the average underage viewer could imagine.

What’s disturbing about this movie is that it actually thinks it’s clever. Every time Clyde pulls off another outrage, we’re supposed to be as shocked and befuddled as the rest of the characters onscreen. But the only thing shocking about this film is that its two lead actors deigned to be in it. Sure, every actor needs to make a quick buck now and then, but there ought to be limits to doing so. At the end of the day, there’s nothing to distinguish “Law Abiding Citizen” from the average straight-to-fake-DVD thriller apart from the hefty doses “Saw”-style torture porn thrown in.

2/5 Stars by John Robertson.

(USA) Directed by F. Gary Gray. Starring Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Viola Davis, Bruce McGill. Category IIB, 109 minutes.