Righteous Kill (2008)
Average Rating: 4.1/10
Reviews Counted: 142
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 115
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro do their best to elevate this dowdy genre exercise, but even these two greats can't resuscitate the film's hackneyed script.
Average Rating: 3.8/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 29
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro do their best to elevate this dowdy genre exercise, but even these two greats can't resuscitate the film's hackneyed script.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 89,076
Movie Info
Jon Avnet's thriller Righteous Kill stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as a pair of Big Apple police officers investigating a series of murders committed by a serial killer. Carla Gugino co-stars as a crime-scene investigator who has romantic ties to De Niro. 50 Cent, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, and John Leguizamo co-star. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Robert De Niro
Turk -
Al Pacino
Rooster -
Curtis Jackson
Spider -
Carla Gugino
Karen Corelli -
Donnie Wahlberg
Det. Ted Riley -
Trilby Glover
Jessica -
Shirly Brener
Natalya -
Melissa Leo
Cheryl Brooks -
Oleg Taktarov
Yevgeny Mugalat -
Alan Rosenberg
Stein -
Alan Blumenfeld
Martin Baum -
Rob Dyrdek
Rambo -
Brian Dennehy
Lt. Hingis -
John Leguizamo
Det. Simon Perez -
Saidah Aprika
Gwen Darvis -
Sterling K. Brown
Rogers -
Barry Primus
Prosky -
Frank John Hughes
Charles Randall -
Terry Serpico
Jon Van Luytens -
Liza Colon-Zayas
Judge Angel-Rodriguez -
Malachy McCourt
Father Connell -
Ajay Naidu
Doctor Chadrabar -
Charles F. Krichman Jr.
umpire
ADVERTISEMENT
Righteous Kill Trailer & Photos
All Critics (148) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (115) | DVD (7)
This thriller by Jon Avnet is mostly by the numbers, and its surprise ending, though effective, feels somewhat forced.
Top CriticNearly everything about this film is a cliché.
Say it ain't so, Bobby and Al.
The movie, which has more than 10 credited producers, feels like one of those slick, for-the-money projects Hollywood studios cook up via graph charts and marketing surveys.
There's nothing righteous to be found here.
They look like jobbing veteran actors picking up another payday in some routine cop filler, and Avnet's busily clueless direction offers them and the clunky writing little help. Pacino. De Niro. It's over.
A murky, muddled, miserable mess, Righteous Kill spends 101 minutes failing to achieve what Heat managed in just six.
The worst about Righteous Kill is that there's probably a perfectly acceptable procedural thriller somewhere in the mountain of cliches and stupidity that riddle the film.
Imagine this conversation: A phone call between actor Bob De Niro and director Marty Scorsese. Bobby: Hello, Marty. I've been calling and texting, but you never answer. (Silence) Bobby: I'm talking to you. Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
As far as bad movies go, Righteous Kill is something of a zenith.
Pacino. DeNiro. Armed and dangerous. In a cop drama. In NYC. Together. Written by the writer of Inside Man. Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, what could've gone so wrong?
...the phrase phoning-it-in was practically invented for Pacino and De Niro's work here...
Russell Gewirtz's script is built around a trick, one that is simultaneously too clever by half and not clever at all (which itself is quite a trick).
There's nothing righteous about this tired and tiresome good cop/bad cop NYPD procedural from Avnet; in fact, it's pretty much an abomination from the get-go.
So somebody finally got De Niro and Pacino to co-star in a movie together and this is the best they could come up with?
A derivative and increasingly silly crime thriller.
Seeing Robert De Niro and Al Pacino circling the thin line between cop and criminal paints a giant grin on the face.
Direct Avnet is just plain terrible, and screenwriter Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man) should be ashamed of himself.
Teria sido melhor se eles tivessem seguido o exemplo de Paul Newman e Robert Redford e interrompido a parceria enquanto esta ainda era trazia um histórico impecável.
Moviegoers that haven't seen alot of cop mysteries will probably like it. I have seen too many of them so it was very unoriginal and just silly.
It's good to see the two great actors of their generation back together in Righteous Kill. Frankly, though, although a few sparks of fire at times, the heat has subsided significantly.
Audience Reviews for Righteous Kill
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Righteous Kill yet.
What's Hot On RT
Pictures from a zombie nation
Woody Allen in San Francisco
See the Desolation of Smaug trailer!
Where does This Is the End rank?
Latest News on Righteous Kill
January 21, 2009:
Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie NomineesNo awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded...
September 22, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Jackson Debuts Ahead of the RaceMovies were serious business this weekend with drama, Lakeview Terrace, heading the box office hands...
September 15, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Coen Brothers Ring in a New Weekend at the Box OfficeJoel and Ethan Coen scored the largest debut of their career and first-ever number one opening with...
Fresh Links
Featured
Movie: ID: 770672980 Title: Righteous Kill Release Date: 2008-09-10 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
The Looks of Johnny Depp
To celebrate the star's birthday, BuzzSugar looks at the many faces of Johnny Depp.
10 Egregious Product Placements
Rolling Stone wonders if The Internship goes too far... then provides 10 examples of movies that did.
Horror Movie Mistakes
Moviefone offers up 8 of the most obvious glaring errors in popular fright flicks.
10 Bad Movies That Look Great
Sometimes even terrible movies can be beautiful; here are 10 of them, from HitFix.
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Featured on RT
- Video Interviews with Cast & Crew of Monsters University 0
- Digital Multiplex: 21 & Over, Quartet, and More 1
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Jack the Giant Slayer and Quartet 23
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Man of Steel Sets June Record 101
- Weekly Ketchup: Man of Steel Sequel In the Works 197
- Five Favorite Films with Joss Whedon 127
- Bonus Footage of the Cast & Crew of Man of Steel 1
Top Headlines
Foreign Titles
- Kurzer Prozess - Righteous Kill (DE)
- La Loi et l'ordre (FR)
