I quite liked the movie...but I did have issues about the way it was marketed.
It is clearly NOT a vigilante movie, it's about a guy who loses his job, is depressed over his broken marriage and simply reaches the end of his tether on a very hot day...and decides he has had enough and is going to 'go home'.
But of course...the marketing team went all out and deliberately made it look like a vigilante movie.
Even the way the trailer was put together, making it look like he deliberately shot up the burger bar, when in fact the gun went off by accident.
And on the original poster for the film, he was shown standing on the grafittied monument where he chased offf the two mexican gang members, holding a shotgun...when in fact in that scene he only used a baseball bat, which he took from the gang members.
He makes it clear he is not a vigilante, and even says so on a few occasions. He does not kill anyone, though he does harm a few. But the character reacts to being stopped or threatened in some way, rather than go looking for trouble.
I guess it works because it is a kind of wish-fulfilment movie - he does things that we would all secretly like to do in real life.
Agree with the summing up but not this part.
The film isn't wish fulfilment by any means. The point throughout the film is that Foster doesn't want any of what happens to happen, and neither do the vast majority of people.
Why it was controversial is because it depicted what the average person has to put up with.
For every minority interest, for every big money deal, for every corporate decision, the average Joe gets screwed.
Why it's depicted as right wing is because that great mass of people who on the whole leave pretty blameless lives, were actually given a voice. The silent majority stopped being silent.
brilliant!