Righteous Kill

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro always sounds like a recipe for success. Righteous Kill is a movie about two NYC detectives that are working to tie a serial killer case to a crime they solved years ago. Or is it?






If you saw Inside Man you will see Russell Gewirtz's finger prints all over this one. But Inside Man was tight, this was loosey goosey and all over the place.

The plot felt so manufactured, and so damn predictable that you could read it from a mile away. There are a few twists and turns but nothing to grab you. And that is the problem here. It felt like it was another movie to grab two legends and put them together. The funny thing is that it almost works. These two could make me watch anything from start to finish. It kept me there, but never pulled me in.

The cast is pretty strong. Brian Dennehy, Carla Gugino, and John Leguizamo all do what they can with the material and do it rather well. There is just so much reaching, nothing ever tied together. 50 Cent is thrown in there to add some street cred, I guess...

The bottom line is if you like cop movies you will probably get by with this film. It will certainly not go down as one of Pacino or De Niro's shining moments, but it is a decent choice to fill some time. I guess I am being kind, but I find it so hard to think either one can suck. 3 stars from this guy, an average flick.

Oh, and De Niro has a really bad softball swing. Neither one of those cats should do anything physical on screen anymore. And that includes running. It just doesn't sell. Stick to the dialogue.

Peace.