Righteous Kill (2008)

Two veteran New York City detectives work on a case of serial executions of criminals who escaped justice.

Director:

Jon Avnet

Writer:

Russell Gewirtz

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Turk
Al Pacino	...	Rooster
50 Cent	...	Spider (as Curtis Jackson)
Carla Gugino	...	Karen Corelli
John Leguizamo	...	Det. Simon Perez
Donnie Wahlberg	...	Det. Ted Riley
Brian Dennehy	...	Hingis
Trilby Glover	...	Jessica
Saidah Arrika Ekulona	...	Gwen Darvis
Alan Rosenberg	...	Stein
Sterling K. Brown	...	Rogers
Barry Primus	...	Prosky
Melissa Leo	...	Cheryl Brooks
Alan Blumenfeld	...	Martin Baum
Oleg Taktarov	...	Yevgeny Mugalat

Storyline

Turk and Rooster, two aging NYPD detectives who have been longtime partners are faced with a serial killer who is murdering sociopathic criminals. They both have personal issues, and when they start working with a younger team, Perez and Riley, tensions between the pairs of partners is inevitable, especially since Turk is now living with Perez's ex-girlfriend, also a homicide detective.

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Plot Keywords:

execution | new york city | nypd | serial killer | confession | 

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Taglines:

Most people respect the badge. Everybody respects the gun.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Lionsgate [uk] Metropolitan Films [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Russian

Release Date:

12 September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las dos caras de la ley

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£768,803 (UK) (26 September 2008)

Gross:

$40,076,438 (USA) (12 December 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Emmett/Furla Films, Grosvenor Park Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The initial cut of Righteous Kill ran for two hours, but after a rather negative test screening, Nu Image hastily re-cut the film down to its slender 101 minutes to make it more fast-paced and action-orientated. Snippets of some of the deleted scenes can be seen in the trailer.

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Goofs

When Karen Corelli goes to her apartment, thinking she is being followed, you can see the shadow of the cameraman just before she steps up the first step leading to her door.

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Quotes

Gwen Darvis: This was a cluster fuck to end all cluster fucks.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, the sound of a train is heard.

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Connections

References Women's Murder Club (2007)

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Soundtracks

"War"
Written by Darryl Pittman and Tyrone Smith
Performed by D/R Period feat. Tyrone Smith (as Fly Ty)
Published by Spirit Two Music, Inc. o/b/o Next Level Groove Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Rockboy Street Records

User Reviews

De Niro and Pacino make it a good movie…

This film has a lot of problem, but the great performances of its stars still make it worth seeing at the theater. The twist was way too predictable (I had it solved half an hour in, and I'm usually unable to figure out twists way ahead of time) and the script wasn't very impressive. The direction is OK, but nothing special. There were some pretty funny moments and one liners though. The only thing that makes this better than a sub-par thriller is De Niro and Pacino, both of whom put in great performances and really save this movie. The supporting actors do just fine, but are overshadowed. I was really anxious for a movie in which the pair finally share some significant screen time together, and this movie was about as good as could be expected, considering the makers of the film.

It isn't the best movie out right now (try Burn After Reading), but I do recommend going to see this one. I give it 7/10. I hope Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up again, hopefully with a better screenplay and director.