Righteous Kill

DAY 181 - 6/30/09 - Movie #181

BEFORE: I'm coming to the end of my cop films, and the end of my Pacino films (for now). I'll pick up "City Hall", "The Insider" and "Scent of a Woman" at a later date, because I'm anxious to start a 3-week tour through the career of Robert De Niro. Starz on Demand has been very helpful, running Pacino/De Niro films this month - so this De Niro-spective could take me right up to my San Diego trip, the last week in July. In addition to the movie rating, I'm adding a new feature for the duration: the DeNir-O-Meter. This will be a similar 1 to 10 scale, judging how prominent Bobby D. is in the film, how memorable his performance is, or how well the film showcases him.

THE PLOT: Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose?

AFTER: As Tom Stoppard wrote, "There is an art to the building up of suspense." And this film sort of deflates it, telling us in the first 5 minutes who's been killing off criminals that have been getting off on technicalities. It's a look at the frustrations involved in being a cop - to the point where a cop might take the law into his own hands, and go too far. Can a policeman dispense vigilante justice in his off-duty hours, and still be considered a good cop? Unfortunately, there's no solid answer provided, partially because this movie is so unfocused and all over the place.

There's a reason why the main characters are mostly called by their nicknames "Turk" and "Rooster" - it's funny how the movie would have been different if we had known the main characters' full names at the beginning. I was all set to rate this movie as a "4" but the long-awaited introduction of action and suspense near the end sort of demand that I upgrade it.

Supporting work here by Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Walhberg, and "Hey, it's THAT guy" veterans Brian Dennehy and Alan Rosenberg. Cameos by Curtis "50-cent" Jackson and Terry Serpico (no relation to Frank).

RATING: 6 out of 10 softball gloves

DENIR-O-METER: 5 for a relatively restrained performance, and getting out-acted by Pacino. He does get in a couple good soliloquys, though, including "Most people respect the badge. Everyone respects the gun."