Man, from the previews, this movie looked hot. A great cast led by Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker. An amazing screenwriter (James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential). Guns blazing, conspiracies afire... it looked sizzling.
In reality, though, Street Kings is more like a smoldering ember: it had all of the elements of being red-hot but was doused by an unimaginative story, a tedious script, and lackluster supporting characters. All fizzle, no sizzle.
Reeves plays the lead as detective Tom Ludlow: a good guy slash renegade cop who sees no problem with bending the rules as long as it results in the bad guys getting taken down. Forest Whitaker's character, Captain Jack Wander, is Ludlow's boss and team leader who supports and mentors Ludlow while also covering up his messes along the way. When it comes out that Ludlow's ex-partner, Detective Terrence Washington (Terry Crews), is going to narc on Ludlow's under-the-radar style of nabbing criminals, Wander and his entire team are brought to the forefront. People start dying... and disappearing. And Ludlow is caught in the middle. With the help of a young up-and-coming cop named Disco (Chris Evans) - and with a determined Internal Affairs investigator (Hugh Laurie) hot on his ass - Ludlow attempts to right a multitude of wrongs... and bring everyone to justice.
Perhaps if I hadn't known that this film was co-written by James Ellroy - the brilliant mind behind the classic L.A. Confidential - I would have liked it better. Because, frankly, Street Kings felt amateurish - as if it were a first time effort by a brand-new screenwriter. The dialogue was laughable, the storyline was predictable and boring, and the supporting characters - which included the likes of a badly moustached Jay Mohr and a silly street gangsta version of Cedric the Entertainer - were downright goofy... It was like a bad, extended episode of The Shield. Really, the only explanation I can come up with is that perhaps Ellroy intended for the film to be campy-funny, and the director (David Ayer - best known for writing The Fast and the Furious and S.W.A.T.) lost the vision.
Regardless of the reason, the bottom line is that Street Kings came off as an unintentionally funny yet ultimately boring rendition of a cop show - with all of the clichés firmly in place: renegade cop with a good heart turns his back on life when the love of his life is killed. Black cops go up against white cops. Conspiracy theories abound. Bad cops are everywhere... except for where there are really bad cops. It's nothing we haven't seen before, and I'm sure - unfortunately - it's something we'll see again.
Street Kings starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, and Chris Evans 20th Century Fox, Rated R. Available online at Amazon.com.
About the Author
Carly Hope Finseth spends much of her time pondering what she wants to be when she grows up. She alternates between days filled with cozy socks, hot tea, and meditative reflection - and others, which are loaded with caffeine fixes, grueling commutes, and one fire to put out after another. When she’s not sifting through e-mails, dropping her cell phone, or sticking another reminder Post-It on her desk, Carly also somehow finds the time to write and reflect on important (and the occasional not-so-important) feminist issues.
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Orna Ben-Shoshan: Artist Statement
As an auto-deduct artist, my work is not attached to any particular location or timeframe, and it’s free from any familiar set of rules. My creation is a medium of transferring knowledge about things that are beyond linear time and thinking.
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Man, from the previews, this movie looked hot. A great cast led by Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker. An amazing screenwriter (James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential). Guns blazing, conspiracies afire... it looked sizzling. 
Carly Hope Finseth spends much of her time pondering what she wants to be when she grows up. She alternates between days filled with cozy socks, hot tea, and meditative reflection - and others, which are loaded with caffeine fixes, grueling commutes, and one fire to put out after another. When she’s not sifting through e-mails, dropping her cell phone, or sticking another reminder Post-It on her desk, Carly also somehow finds the time to write and reflect on important (and the occasional not-so-important) feminist issues.
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