?Street Kings?
D: David Ayer
S: Keanu Reeves, Chris Evans, Forest Whitaker and Hugh Laurie
MANILA, Philippines?Movies about crime and police corruption are always intriguing. Director David Ayer?s sleek but frenetic dramatic thriller, ?Street Kings,? is no exception:
Highly unorthodox police detective, Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves), finds himself in hot water after he?s framed for the murder of Terrence Washington (Terry Crews), his former partner in the LAPD. However, the 18-year veteran finds an unlikely ally in Washington?s current partner, newbie Paul Diskant (Chris Evans), who smells something fishy in the fallen cop?s grisly murder.
With the Internal Affairs? Capt. James Biggs (Hugh Laurie) hot on Tom?s tail, the crime-busting pair soon uncovers disturbing clues that reveal a massive cover-up?and a blood-stained trail that implicates Tom?s colleagues, including his supervisor and No. 1 protector, Capt. Jack Walden (Forest Whitaker)! On the run from cops and criminals alike, Tom feels his world closing in on him?but, he has no intention of going down without a fight!
A man fighting a corrupt system is a film subject that?s hardly original. Also, a movie plot as complex as ?Street Kings?? needs a firm and confident touch to see it through its
confounding narrative convolutions, which occasionally drag down viewers? suspension of disbelief. But, Ayer, with his production?s cracklingly fast-paced and crisply edited scenes, manages to make his gritty, action-packed cop drama engaging and entertaining.
As an actor, Reeves is not known for his emotional accessibility, but Ayer?s film and James Ellroy?s (?L.A. Confidential?) script allow him to let his guard down as he plumbs the inner turmoil of a man hounded by the violent death of his adulterous wife.
The actor demonstrates this further when his character reaches out to Washington?s widow (Naomie Harris). He likewise works well with Evans, who shows that there?s more to him than his crowd-pleasing antics as The Human Torch in the ?Fantastic Four? movie franchise.
However, the production is weakened by its predictable depiction of the ?bad? guys, who are reduced to caricatures?and the actors playing them seem unaware that winking sneers and evil laughter have long gone out of style. These days, even in acting, less is more!
In the past, the film?s themes and stirring moral may have been better handled by directors like Michael Mann (?Heat?), Ridley Scott (?American Gangster?) and Martin Scorsese (?The Departed?), but they remain relevant reminders for people whose idealism has been overtaken by apathy.
Indeed, in the midst of an amoral society inured to conditions that are hard to change, how do you correct a callously corrupt system? For Tom and Paul, fighting evil head-on is the only way to go?but, at what price?
