Righteous Kill Film Review

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino Star in this Psychological Thriller

Sep 29, 2008

Righteous Kill re-unites De Niro and Pacino in the story of a vigilante New York cop who has murdered fourteen people, directed by John Avnet.

Detective David Fisk, a.k.a. Turk (Robert de Niro) is a veteran officer of the New York Police Department. In the film’s opening sequence, he is seen on video footage confessing to fourteen murders. These were carried out against victims who escaped lawful justice, with Turk recalling his motives and actions.

The majority of the film then plays out in flashback, introducing Turk’s equally veteran partner, Rooster (Al Pacino), as they go about trying to the solve the mysterious deaths for which one of them is responsible.

Righteous Kill Summary

For an independent film, budgeted at $60 million, it was easy to believe that Righteous Kill might offer something original in it’s approach and/or execution, particularly with the almighty vanguard of De Niro and Pacino leading the way. The second fully collaborative film of these two cinematic titans would clearly have to overcome the same high expectations that came with their previous release Heat, which was good, but not great.

Unfortunately, Righteous Kill fails to deliver even the standards of Heat, instead only promising more with a script that places it’s two stars side by side for much of the film. There are moments when De Niro and Pacino can make great use of the dialogue and they will always produce the goods. They can, however, only work with what they’ve got and it is with the script that this film utterly fails.

Director John Avnet & Screenwriter Russell Gewirtz

The script is a Frankensteinian monster of several source ideas, all of which have been better explored in their respective fields. So at the outset, the premise will be familiar to fans of the excellent Dexter, with the idea of someone working within the police department, leading the double life of a vigilante.

However, in an effort to seem much more sophisticated, the film then takes off it’s Dexter mask to sequentially reveal one after another, with most of it’s hopes pinned on a certain revelation. This is not only approached in the same manner as seen in Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects (with an intended victim hospitalized), but also has the audacity to try and emulate the famous Kaiser Soze revelation, via a similar epiphanic montage. It simply doesn’t compare.

It’s as if the film’s many producers each wanted their own movie and so writer Russell Gewirtz was bid to write a screenplay “as original as Dexter with the impact of The Usual Suspects. And while you’re at it, try to mix in the atmosphere of Seven and something from Training Day, because they’re great too.”

If that was the case, then Gewirtz has done his job, taken his money, and asked no further questions (an understandable, but still shameful mode of conduct). If not, then Gewirtz is just a particularly fortunate hack and, on this evidence, will be running with his earnings before anyone realizes that he is largely responsible for the failure of this film.

With that said, director John Avnet will not be the one to accuse Gewirtz for any failings, because he must know by now that he shot this movie on an ounce of real inspiration. Just because there are two great actors on screen shouldn’t mean the director has nothing to contribute, but that seems to be the case here.

Righteous Kill Cast

The supporting cast is very strong and, in retrospect, deserved better treatments that might have injected something original into the proceedings. Carla Gugino is not out of place in any movie and Curtis Jackson, a.k.a 50 cents, is passable in a limited role.

Other roles in the film are little more than familiar filler, with Donnie Wahlberg and, particularly, John Leguizamo weighing in with some talent of their own, despite the much-travelled path of their characters. Brian Dennehy’s role will surely be remembered as the usual 'angry Chief who shouts a lot'.

Of course, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are seldom short of brilliant. De Niro takes the plaudits for the most part, though Pacino was always going to have his moments in the limelight.

In the end, however, one or even two or three great performances cannot make a film great. For that you need a top-notch script and an inspired director and so this film was doomed from the start irrespective of how good a cast would feature.

If you’re a fan of these actors, then by all means enjoy their performances, but expect to be disappointed by the film. If you are not disappointed by the film, then you may not have seen The Usual Suspects, which is how it’s supposed to be done.

The copyright of the article Righteous Kill Film Review in Action Films/Thrillers is owned by Michael Pantazi. Permission to republish Righteous Kill Film Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.