website tracking
Search The Big Picture

« Movie Review - 'Burn After Reading' | Main | Movie Trailer - Clive Owen in 'The International' »
Friday
12Sep2008

Movie Review - 'Righteous Kill'

DateFriday, September 12, 2008 at 12:00AM
Righteous Kill

Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Carla Gugino
Directed by Jon Avnet
Rated R


righteouskillposter_smallest.jpg Somebody has to clean up the streets, take the law into his or her own hands, exact justice on those who deserve it - that's the underlying motive of a serial killer on the loose in the new cop film Righteous Kill. We know pretty early on that the killer is a cop, because as Roger Ebert's law of character efficiency dictates, the only characters we're see in Righteous Kill are cops; it has to be somebody on the job.

We're made to believe one thing as soon as the film opens, thanks to a videotaped monologue that might serve as a confession. So is the action that follows a reinforcement of that opening scene or should we expect the old trick ending? It's difficult to avoid bringing up the rather obvious structure Righteous Kill uses, although I must confess that the film doesn't end exactly the way I thought it would, and I'm still not sure I understand the reason why that's the ending to the story.

Turk and Rooster (Robert De Niro and Al Pacino) have been partners forever. They're good cops but lately, the law has not been on their side. Acquittals, red tape, and bureaucracy have conspired to keep bad guys on the street instead of behind bars. But someone is help Turk and Rooster out, executing the criminals who have slipped through the cracks.

I was surprised that I heard the words "serial killer" about a dozen times in the movie but never "vigilante," which seems more accurate. And I was surprised how little impact the combination of De Niro and Pacino seemed to matter. After all, the tandem is the reason people will go see this film, but is it any better because of either one of them or both? Not really.

Righteous Kill is longwinded and unfocused. It knows it wants to trick its audience, which is a dastardly thing to do, because it somehow justifies throwing in circumstances that don't fit the surroundings just so the audience doesn't see it coming. But because this movie is so bad at setting its own trap, it keeps piling things on, adding new killings and a couple new wrinkles because we might not be confused enough without it all.

The greatest impact this film has is that, upon reflection, you wonder how many scripts Pacino and De Niro had turned down over the years. Sure, they were in a scene together in Heat. But it's been over 30 years and they've never made a movie like this before. It's clear that they would have good chemistry and the both actually work well with and around the other, but...this is the movie they held out for?

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment1 Comment |

Reader Comments (1)

I knew this movie would be bad because Jon Avnet is a terrible director. Having watched '88 minutes' confirmed it for me... he's a terrible director trying hard... he should stick to being a producer. 'Righteous kill' is such a waste of talent. Very sad.

Sunday, September 14, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterTH.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>