As one of the cops in this awful police thriller might say, "There's nothing to see here, folks."
Righteous Kill (2008)
Tomatometer
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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.
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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Reviews for Righteous Kill
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.
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.
DeNiro is 65, Pacino is 68, and they look it. Not just physically: spiritually, too. They're exhausted.
The flick is nowhere near the level of Heat because of the predictability but it does deliver great performances and hilariously awkward dialogue.
'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.
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.
Except for 50 Cent, who can't act a smidge, the actors are game but the script is tired.
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino save Righteous Kill from becoming another run-of-the-mill cop movie
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.
A thinly-sketched, utterly pedestrian cop thriller that pivots on a very predictable twist ending.
Not surprisingly, what's right about Righteous Kill begins and ends with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.
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.)
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:
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.
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.
The new thriller that emphatically pairs [De Niro and Pacino] qualifies as a historic event, whether it's any good or not.
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. ![]()
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. ![]()
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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