by Mitchell Dean

Created on: April 21, 2008   Last Updated: April 22, 2008

aka "The Entertaining Brain"

Rated: R
Running Time: 109 minutes
Directed by: David Ayer
Written by: James Ellroy & Kurt Wimmer
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie
Opens: April 11, 2008

TAKE TWO (GOOD)

Street Kings hit's theaters ready to reign as the cop drama to beat!

Detective Tom Ludlow (Reeves) is the detective that is called in to do the dirty jobs that nobody wants to touch. He is famous for doing whatever it takes to get the bad guy and if that means planting some evidence or a few weapons, he will get it done. When his Captain, Jack Wander (Whitaker) turns out to be just as dirty as the bad guys and even a bit crazier, he finds himself in a battle to not just clear his name, but stay alive.

THE GOOD

James Ellroy and Kurt Wimmer gave David Ayer such a solid script, that this film could not be anything but wonderful. It has some issues, but it is a fun ride.

Keanu Reeves departs from his "gosh golly hey bro" type of performance that has inundated every one of his pictures save the Wachowski's Matrix Trilogy. For a time, it seemed that only the Brothers W would be able to part him from that type of character, but Ayers has been able to do it with a gusto.

More importantly, let not forget to see the engaging performance by Whitaker, or the one by Hugh Laurie (House) that quite possibly steals the entire film from under Whitaker and Reeves, even though his screen time seems like a paltry 10 minutes.

Street Kings does not stop once the action explodes from the first opening frames to it's unflinching finale.

THE BAD & THE UGLY

There are some holes in the plot and not all the characters come across as 3-dimensional, but either way, the film is fun to watch. The problem probably lies more within the screenplay then with the directing since the dialog delivered by not only the street thungs, but the police, is canned, rehashed and regurgitated.

Even though Ayers seems to rip himself off, making this picture seem like a hybrid to his earlier work on Training Day, nobody could have done it better.

This film will slap you around and keep you guessing. If you want a mindless night at the movies, go see Street Kings.

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