Gripping performances by Keanu Reeves, Academy AwardÂ(r) Winner Forest Whitaker* and an all-star supporting cast power this action-packed crime thriller, in which a veteran cop finds himself ensnared in a deadly web of conspiracy and betrayal. Reeves stars as Tom Ludlow, a hard-nosed detective with a talent for delivering brutal street justice. When evidence implicates him in the murder of a fellow officer, the violence around Ludlow explodes as he realizes his own life is in danger and he can trust no one.
Street Kings is a pungent bouquet of corruption, violence, multi-ethnic mayhem, macho glee laced with macho angst, and fluorescently obscene dialogue from the mind of James Ellroy. Its hero, though he'd scarcely consent to be called one, is L.A. police detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves), for whom life is a wound that won't heal and dealing out retribution to scumbags is the ongoing treatment. Ludlow's the star player--"the tip of the [expletive] spear"--on a team of detectives headed by Capt. Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker). Coach Wander relies on his boys to keep breaking lurid cases, usually through deeply darkside underground work, and raising his profile with the media and the department. In pursuit of these goals, nothing is forbidden except failure, and the truth is what you make it look like. This is familiar Ellroy territory, most effectively translated to the screen in L.A. Confidential (which should have won the 1997 Oscar, and would have if Titanic hadn't launched that year). If you know Ellroy's ground game, you can pretty much guess where Street Kings is going, and where it's been. Still, the twists and torques of its urban road-rage course maintain the centrifugal force needed to hold us in our seats (a tactical highlight: refrigerator adapted as rolling barricade), and the movie keeps bopping us with oddball casting coups: comic Jay Mohr and Northern Exposure/Sex and the City veteran John Corbett as two members of Coach Warden's gonzo detective squad; Cedric the Entertainer doing a nicely nuanced turn as a street creature; Hugh Laurie doing a less-hyper version of House, if House worked Internal Affairs. The problem is that director David Ayer keeps everything intense. Dialogues are shot too close-up, line readings are too strident, the action is too nonstop slam. Recall Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential and the mind's eye summons up a whole spectrum of existence, mood, place, historical period, emotional investment; there's an amplitude to the picture and the sensibility bringing it to us, something besides the whodunit and the endless rap sheet of nasty what-they-done. Everything in Street Kings is one-note, and with Keanu Reeves playing it implosive and Forest Whitaker locked in crazier-than-an-outhouse-rat mode, that's no way to stay the course. --Richard T. Jameson
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Stills from Street Kings (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A fun ride:
Street kings will not get any points for originality...as this is what it is lacking in most, but solid performances by the cast and some really good editing accompanied by a solid soundtrack make this one possible for repeat viewing.
Another Movie that Tries to be Something Special...:
This film was BS. When I first saw the trailers during it's theatrical release, I thought that it looked empty and the name did not do anything for me either. After watching it, I was correct again! This is one of those poorly written BS productions that just throws you into the middle of a "story" and the "actors" have a lot of emotion, but it all adds up to nothing. There was no back story, no setup no anything. The producers just got two stars and put out a film hoping for a quick money grab.more info
Forget what you've probably read:
I realize the irony. I almost caught this in the theater, but after constant bashing from most critics, I skipped it. Upon DVD review, I realized my mistake. This is one of the best action/dramas I've seen all year. This movie portrays the cesspool of LA, from the criminal AND the law enforcement side, and asks the question whether the ends justify the means, which we learn pretty quickly in DO NOT. All the acting is top notch, even Keanu Reeves, who usually has the acting chops of a tree. Here, he... more info
Vigilante cop to the rescue?:
This is a pretty good story if you can get into the idea that a certain amount of evil needs to be done to preserve the good in a society full of evil. Reeves plays a fairly convincing reluctant anti hero, and the plot is fast paced if a bit predictable. Someone has to stop the bad guys and Reeves is that guy. Kind of like Jack Nicholson in "A few good Men" Reeves does the work that lets citizens sleep at night, because they don't know what has to be done. If you are in the mood for a modern... more info
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