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Righteous Kill

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Righteous Kill (2008)

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Reviews Counted:137

Fresh:28

Rotten:109

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: 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.

Rated: R

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:Sep 12, 2008 Wide

Box Office: $39,983,772

Synopsis: Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer in the... Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer in the adrenaline fueled psychological thriller Righteous Kill, directed by Jon Avnet (Red Corner, Fried Green Tomatoes) and written by Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man). The cast also features hip-hop superstar Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Get Rich or Die Tryin’).

After 30 years as partners in the pressure cooker environment of the NYPD, highly decorated Detectives David Fisk and Thomas Cowan should be ready for retirement, but aren’t. Before they can hang up their badges, they are called in to investigate the murder of a notorious pimp, which appears to have ties to a case they solved years before.

Like the original murder, the victim is a suspected criminal whose body is found accompanied by a four line poem justifying the killing. When additional crimes take place, it becomes clear the detectives are looking for a serial killer, one who targets criminals that have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system. His mission is to do what the cops can’t do on their own—take the culprits off the streets for good. The similarities between the recent killings and their earlier case raise a nagging question: Did they put the wrong man behind bars? --© Overture Films
[More]

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Carla Gugino

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Carla Gugino, Dan Futterman, Donnie Wahlberg, Trilby Glover, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo

Director: Jon Avnet

Director: Jon Avnet
Screenwriter: Russell Gerwitz
Producer: Rob Cowan, Avi Lerner, Randall Emmett, Jon Avnet, Lati Grobman
Composer: Ed Shearmur
Studio: Overture Films

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Release:

Jan 6, 2009

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Reviews for Righteous Kill

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101 - 120 (sorted by date)
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As one of the cops in this awful police thriller might say, "There's nothing to see here, folks."

Full Review Source: Colorado Springs Gazette | comment Comment
09/12/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette

Time, alas, doesn't so much pass in Righteous Kill as crawl, despite the usual overcutting, which tries to pump energy into the inert proceedings.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/12/08
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times

Pacino is careful to rein in his bad habits in such company, and De Niro is De Niro; neither, however, can do much with material this trite. So, watching them, we're really seeing, and applauding, the ghosts of roles past.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
09/12/08
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail

DeNiro is 65, Pacino is 68, and they look it. Not just physically: spiritually, too. They're exhausted.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
09/12/08
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

The flick is nowhere near the level of Heat because of the predictability but it does deliver great performances and hilariously awkward dialogue.

Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) | comment 1 Comment
09/11/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

'Righteous Kill' is a tired pastiche of genre clichés and ideas borrowed from other D-grade thrillers, a story without style, energy or any discernible respect for narrative logic.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
09/11/08
Rossiter Drake
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner

Avnet is perhaps the last guy on a list of suitable directors to helm a Pacino/De Niro face off, but here we are, and Righteous Kill is expectedly ripe with flaws and teeming with idiocy.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
09/11/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

Except for 50 Cent, who can't act a smidge, the actors are game but the script is tired.

Full Review Source: Beliefnet | comment 1 Comment
09/11/08
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Beliefnet

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino save Righteous Kill from becoming another run-of-the-mill cop movie

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
09/11/08
Blake French
Blake French
Filmcritic.com

This year, Bob and Al have chosen to do their latest, second-rate cop/thriller movie together. I suppose we owe them thanks for sparing us from having to sit through two separate stinkers.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment 1 Comment
09/11/08
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

Remember Hide and Seek? Yeah, the twist is that obvious.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
09/11/08
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

...a dud of a film that tries to be clever but fails miserably.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
09/11/08
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A twisty, turny and ultimately silly thriller.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
09/11/08
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A thinly-sketched, utterly pedestrian cop thriller that pivots on a very predictable twist ending.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
09/11/08
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Screen International

Not surprisingly, what's right about Righteous Kill begins and ends with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
09/11/08
Cathy Jakicic
Cathy Jakicic
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It feels as if they're old friends who have worked together for decades, slipping into an easy camaraderie as well as a credible depiction of blue-collar beat-walkers. (Better still, they look like they're having fun.)

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
09/11/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

How not to dig into the experience of seeing two of cinema's greatest legends working side by side? Well, first we could focus on the plot:

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/11/08
New York Daily News

They seem comfortable enough in each other's company on-screen to make you wish there were more scenes that allowed them to just kick back and riff. It'd be a lot more enjoyable than watching the movie strain for clarity -- or cleverness.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/11/08
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Enduring a contrived and convoluted crime drama would be worthwhile if it featured powerhouse performances from the two best screen actors of their generation. Such is not the case.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
09/11/08
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

The new thriller that emphatically pairs [De Niro and Pacino] qualifies as a historic event, whether it's any good or not.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
09/11/08
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Righteous Kill

January 21, 2009: Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees
No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will... More...

January 04, 2009: Equally gritty old school crime thriller and flashy seductive post-modern whodunit noir, along with De Niro's off the job kinky rough sex lover forensic babe (Carla Gugino) who likes him to role play criminals in bed, Righteous Kill delivers the goods. Opens in new window
More...

January 03, 2009: Equally gritty old school crime thriller and flashy seductive post-modern whodunit noir, along with De Niro's off the job kinky rough sex lover forensic babe (Carla Gugino) who likes him to role play criminals in bed, Righteous Kill delivers the goods. Opens in new window
More...

November 28, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: Local Critics Warm To Changeling; De Niro Delights But What Just Happened Doesn't
It's Friday, there's a new raft of movies in the UK cinemas this week, but are any of them any good? This week the UK film hacks give us their opinions on Clint Eastwood's... More...

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