Street Kings

Street Kings (Rated R)

Running time: 1 hr 49 mins

Cast:

Keanu Reeves
Forrest Whitaker
Hugh Laurie

Critical consensus (www.rottentomatoes.com):

**1/2 out of *****

My consensus:

*** out of *****




The premise: Tom Ludlow is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.


My review: Call me crazy, but Street Kings shocked me in the sense that it wasn't an awful movie. It has all the workings: Keanu Reeves (Speed, Point Break), a standard cop drama story, the the L.A. setting, an eccentric and weird police chief played by Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). But strangely, all those things blended well together to make a pretty decent movie. The story is a little bland and unoriginal, but at least the director turns it into some pretty cool entertainment. There are some cool action moments in this film, some good gun fights. The final act could have been predictable to some, but I sort of didn't see it coming. Am I losing my "who-dunnit movie ending radar"?? Yikes. The cast is a little weak here, but Forrest Whitaker plays his character very charismatically that it makes him great! Some people may be turned away from his oddball performance, but I personally loved it. Hugh Laurie (from TV's House) was also a nice little spark in the cast; he has won awards for his TV persona. Keanu Reeves was predictably boring in this one, but at least he wasn't awful. This movie is good for some reason in my eyes.