| Street Kings | 
| List Price: $29.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 63 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3071
Category: DVD
Actors: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Cedric The Entertainer
Director: David Ayer
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Brand: STREET KINGS (DVD MOVIE)
Label: 20th Century Fox
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 109 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2252609D
UPC: 024543526094
EAN: 0024543526094
ASIN: B001BP4K22
Release Date: August 19, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
Gripping performances by Keanu Reeves, Academy AwardA(r) Winner Forest Whitaker* and an all-star supporting cast power this action-packed crime thriller, in which a veteran cop finds himself ensnared in a deadly web of conspiracy and betrayal. Reeves stars as Tom Ludlow, a hard-nosed detective with a talent for delivering brutal street justice. When evidence implicates him in the murder of a fellow officer, the violence around Ludlow explodes as he realizes his own life is in danger and he can trust no one.
Amazon.com
Street Kings is a pungent bouquet of corruption, violence, multi-ethnic mayhem, macho glee laced with macho angst, and fluorescently obscene dialogue from the mind of James Ellroy. Its hero, though he'd scarcely consent to be called one, is L.A. police detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves), for whom life is a wound that won't heal and dealing out retribution to scumbags is the ongoing treatment. Ludlow's the star player--"the tip of the [expletive] spear"--on a team of detectives headed by Capt. Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker). Coach Wander relies on his boys to keep breaking lurid cases, usually through deeply darkside underground work, and raising his profile with the media and the department. In pursuit of these goals, nothing is forbidden except failure, and the truth is what you make it look like. This is familiar Ellroy territory, most effectively translated to the screen in L.A. Confidential (which should have won the 1997 Oscar, and would have if Titanic hadn't launched that year). If you know Ellroy's ground game, you can pretty much guess where Street Kings is going, and where it's been. Still, the twists and torques of its urban road-rage course maintain the centrifugal force needed to hold us in our seats (a tactical highlight: refrigerator adapted as rolling barricade), and the movie keeps bopping us with oddball casting coups: comic Jay Mohr and Northern Exposure/Sex and the City veteran John Corbett as two members of Coach Warden's gonzo detective squad; Cedric the Entertainer doing a nicely nuanced turn as a street creature; Hugh Laurie doing a less-hyper version of House, if House worked Internal Affairs.
The problem is that director David Ayer keeps everything intense. Dialogues are shot too close-up, line readings are too strident, the action is too nonstop slam. Recall Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential and the mind's eye summons up a whole spectrum of existence, mood, place, historical period, emotional investment; there's an amplitude to the picture and the sensibility bringing it to us, something besides the whodunit and the endless rap sheet of nasty what-they-done. Everything in Street Kings is one-note, and with Keanu Reeves playing it implosive and Forest Whitaker locked in crazier-than-an-outhouse-rat mode, that's no way to stay the course. --Richard T. Jameson
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Stills from Street Kings (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 58 more reviews...
 Another Movie that Tries to be Something Special... January 3, 2009
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This film was BS. When I first saw the trailers during it's theatrical release, I thought that it looked empty and the name did not do anything for me either. After watching it, I was correct again!
This is one of those poorly written BS productions that just throws you into the middle of a "story" and the "actors" have a lot of emotion, but it all adds up to nothing. There was no back story, no setup no anything. The producers just got two stars and put out a film hoping for a quick money grab.
This is no action-packed, no good story, no good drama, the death scenes are silly and Forest Whittaker's accent does not fit a professional police Captain.
Add useless use of the "N" word by various peoples and the unnecessary racial language (calling Reeves and others "white boy" when I suppose this is just some white reassurance for Reeves who is half Asian) with this fake rendition of the "hood," makes this film a phony. They put rappers in here and even Cedric the Entertainer in here to at least make it seem cool, but it is poorly written and unbelievable.
If this did not appeal to you form looking at it, trust your sense and leave it alone!
 Forget what you've probably read December 29, 2008
I realize the irony. I almost caught this in the theater, but after constant bashing from most critics, I skipped it. Upon DVD review, I realized my mistake. This is one of the best action/dramas I've seen all year.
This movie portrays the cesspool of LA, from the criminal AND the law enforcement side, and asks the question whether the ends justify the means, which we learn pretty quickly in DO NOT. All the acting is top notch, even Keanu Reeves, who usually has the acting chops of a tree. Here, he actually plays a convincing tortured bad-cop who has done whatever it takes for far too long.
There arent many likeable characters in this movie (actually, there arent any), but its quite a ride and worth your time.
Vigilante cop to the rescue? December 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a pretty good story if you can get into the idea that a certain amount of evil needs to be done to preserve the good in a society full of evil.
Reeves plays a fairly convincing reluctant anti hero, and the plot is fast paced if a bit predictable. Someone has to stop the bad guys and Reeves is that guy. Kind of like Jack Nicholson in "A few good Men" Reeves does the work that lets citizens sleep at night, because they don't know what has to be done.
If you are in the mood for a modern "Cowboy Justice" movie, "Street Kings" should do you just fine!
4*
 Everything about this movie is so over-exaggerating that it's unbelievable. December 8, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Everything about this movie is so over-exaggerating that it's unbelievable. For example in the first scene when Keanu Reeves, as an udercover detective tried to sell guns to Korean gang members. He talked to them in a provoking manner. That's not true in reality. He's supposed to make them to trust him not to hate him in the meeting.
Another thing is he killed all the dirty cops around him, I mean everybody. That won't happen in real life.
The action is non-stop but that does not save the film.
Give Back the Gun December 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Street Kings" is a gritty tale about police corruption. David Ayer who wrote the screenplay for "S.W.A.T." and contributed to the script of "Training Day" directs. Keanu Reeves shifts from a romantic lead in The Lake House (Widescreen Edition) to this action-packed character-based drama. Reeves has the distinction of being nominated six times for Worst Actor awards at the Razzies without ever winning [or should I say "losing"]! As Tom Ludlow, we see standard Reeves, close to his personality, intense, but interesting to watch. His boss is played by Forest Whitaker who assumes a less than likable role, similar to the award winning portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition). Hugh Laurie from TV's "House" plays internal affairs' Capt. Biggs. Laurie plays well in the supporting role, neither stealing the limelight nor allowing his scenes to go unnoticed. The ending reversal where he hands Ludlow back his gun is effective. Chris Evans from "The Fantastic Four" comes to this realistic drama and holds his own with Reeves as Detective Diskant. His death scene may be one of his best moments on film. Cedric the Entertainer plays Scribble who drives a vintage convertible & makes connections for Ludlow. Common who was also in "Wanted" plays the trigger-happy Coates with nervous abandon. John Corbett -- who I frequently confuse with Ben Affleck for some reason -- does a good job as Detective Dante Demille who winds up with a shank through his lip while driving. Jay Mohr from TV's "Ghost Whisperer" and who I also recently saw in Even Money does a journeyman's job as Sergeant Mike Clady. He is particularly effective as he assaults Linda Washington, a police widow, played by Naomi Harris who was in Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End (Widescreen Edition). Ludlow seems to keep getting shot or scraped and needs nursing from Grace Garcia, well played by Martha Higareda who was in Volver. "Street Kings" is a well done gritty police drama. It is shot starkly by Ayer, but moves briskly. While it is a story that has similar genre films to which it may be compared, it is a decent story well played. Enjoy!
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