Pacino, De Niro Save Righteous Kill

By Justin Velasquez
September 25, 2008

Director Jon Avnet follows up the notoriously unpopular 88 Minutes (which he also directed) with this vehicle starring two of Hollywood's greats - Oscar winners Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.  De Niro (Turk) and Pacino (Rooster) are NYPD detectives and partners who are assigned to solve a series of murders.  The caveat is that the victims are all criminals or accused criminals.  All of them have checkered pasts and would serve society better behind bars.  As the evidence mounts it becomes clear that a cop may have committed the murders - and that cop may be Turk, himself.

What follows are events, characters and evidence that all but confirm Turk's guilt.  The tension rises between rival cops in the form of friction between Turk and Detective Simon Perez (Moulin Rouge's John Leguizamo).  Also thrown into the story is Turk's girlfriend, fellow police officer and forensics specialist Karen Corelli (Sin City's Carla Gugino).  What complicates matters is that Corelli used to date Perez - so a little soap opera drama develops.  One aspect that is glaringly bad is the appearance of Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.  His performance as a big time drug dealer is a crime in itself and is only compounded when he shares screen time with the film's stars.

Upon viewing, Righteous Kill is a very mediocre film.  If you pay attention you can finger the bad guy in about 20 minutes - not good for a whodunit.  Kill combines elements from Se7en (the victims have committed past sins) and Heat (incredible actors & subtle wordplay).  But this isn't Heat 2 - it's a flashy film that lacks a good story.  Kill depends heavily on De Niro and Pacino to carry it and for the most part they do.  Kill also manages to get good performances from Donnie Wahlberg (The Sixth Sense), Leguizamo and Gugino.  But the film contains little else since this looks like an amalgam of so many other police dramas. 

Righteous Kill, for all intents and purposes, is a waste of some great talent.  I can't praise Pacino & De Niro enough because they seemingly bring their "A"games to every project they sign onto.  But without much else this is a forgettable film and one that won't immediately come to mind when you hear these actors' names.

2 STARS