DVD Review: Righteous Kill

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino Team Up Again for Police Mystery

Jan 18, 2009

In their first pairing since their famous restaurant scene in Heat (1995), De Niro and Pacino are back on screen in Righteous Kill, with mixed results.

Turk (Robert De Niro) and Rooster (Al Pacino) are two hard-assed veteran detectives in the NYPD. Their actions are legendary, as are their rough tactics in getting their perpetrators to justice. In their latest investigation, that of a powerful drug dealing club owner named Spider (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson), the duo get involved in a deadly crossfire of bullets, and the mole they use to bait Spider, gets shot as a result. Though the arrest of Spider occurs, both detectives are asked to attend therapy sessions, meant to help them deal with their anger and issues with criminals.

Both being veterans of the force with little feeling of guilt towards bringing scum to justice by way of a gun, Turk and Rooster do circles around the therapists, having no real wish to sit through the tedious sessions, despite the insistence of their captain (Brian Dennehy).

Soon thereafter, the duo attends the trial of a rapist (Terry Serpico) they apprehended. Due to an technicality, however, the rapist goes free, and gets threatened by Turk in open view of those in attendance. Shortly therafter, the rapist is found dead at home, with no apparent sign of struggle or forced entry. Did the victim know the killer? Who killed the rapist? This mystery is investigated, with Turk and Rooster getting help from two younger, but equally hard-nosed cops, Perez (John Leguizamo) and Riley (Donnie Walhberg). Both teams find it difficult to work with each other, given that Turk is dating Perez' ex-girlfriend, detective Karen Corelli (Carla Gugino).

Despite their differences, both groups of detective come to realize that as more potentially guilty victims end up dead one after another, that the clues lead to only one possibility: the killer is a man in blue, badge, gun and all. With the killer possibly being one of their own, all detectives involved in the case start to narrow down their list of suspects, all the while dealing with the very real possibility that it could be any one of them, working on the murders. This cat and mouse chase leads to a thrilling climax, revealing (thankfully) who has been behind the killings.

The movie is a veritable mishmash of police cliches, leaving the final product as a mixed weakened product, despite the high caliber of actors involved. Part police procedural, part whodunnit, Righteous Kill feels like it has much bigger shoes to fill, but doesn't quite manage to get there.

Much of the success of the movie being a hit, likely rested on the successful reunion of two of Hollywood's most gifted actors alive today (the list of great achievements Pacino and De Niro have cumulatively is too long to list here). Having appeared in Godfather, Part II (but not appearing together)as well as having shared a memorable scene in Michael Mann's Heat, this duo of actors have a built-in audience, regardless of their performance.

Despite that, even the greatest of actors cannot elevate what simply amounts to an unevenly paced thriller, overshadowed by a thinly veiled exploration of police corruption, by way of a manhunt for a brilliant killer. The audience is left wondering whether to compare this film to Silence of the Lambs (minus the cannibalism, though with an equally brilliant killer), or to The Departed, which benefited from another living screen legend, Jack Nicholson.

Russel Gerwitz, the film's screenwriter, wrote a similar script in 2006, for Inside Man, a tale about a gifted team of bank robbers intent on escaping the police despite being surrounded. Gerwitz' tendency to lead viewers astray, driving the plot one way while assuming one or more characters' apparent innocence as a red herring, feels rehashed and tired, not helping Righteous Kill in the least.

Using the NYPD as a setting offered so many great possibilities, however in vain. All the audience is left with, is a chance to see their two favorite dramatic actors together again, in a subpar story. What remains is what could easily have been a really great episode of NYPD Blue or Homicide: Life on the Streets, with just really good special guest stars.

6 out of 10 for reuniting two excellent actors, without giving them a good enough story to match their talent

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