Street Kings (2008) More at IMDb Pro »

Street Kings (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Keanu Reeves plays a LAPD cop who gets caught up in a cat and mouse game of murder and violence. Reeves learns from his boss (Forest Whitaker) that a former partner has been turning over dirty details about him. When Reeves goes to confront the former partner, two thugs shoot the partner down so Whitaker must cover up the fact that Reeves was there because it would look like Reeves called out a hit on his partner. This here is where the trouble begins because Reeves wants vengeance for his partners death and soon he begins to uncover a dirty game of money and death. This film is a real throwback to the 1970s cop films because it's extremely violent, profane and politically incorrect. In the end the movie is good but I can't help think it could have been a lot better with a better screenplay to do justice to all the twists and turns in the story. The screenplay centers on the mystery of what really happened when the two thugs killed the cop but it's pretty easy to figure out what's going on long before they happen in the movie. I enjoyed the movie overall due in large part that it didn't try to play it safe and it didn't hide from the various race issues brought up in the screenplay including having Reeves a possible racist. The dialogue is very fast and sharp and again contains some politically incorrect talk, which isn't too common these days. Reeves turns in another fine performance as the down on out cop but he's so fun here that's it's easy to want him to find the truth. Whitaker delivers another very strong performance in his usual maniac style. The film features some nice cinematography as well as a great music score, which adds a lot to the heat in the film. In the end, this film is all about violence and being politically incorrect and if that's the type of action film you want then this one here should work for you.