Street Kings (2008)

An undercover cop, disillusioned by the recent murder of his wife, is implicated in the murder of an officer and must struggle to clear himself.

Director:

David Ayer

Writers:

James Ellroy (screenplay), Kurt Wimmer (screenplay)

Stars:

Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keanu Reeves	...	Detective Tom Ludlow
Forest Whitaker	...	Captain Jack Wander
Hugh Laurie	...	Captain James Biggs
Chris Evans	...	Detective Paul Diskant
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Scribble (as Cedric 'The Entertainer' Kyles)
Jay Mohr	...	Sgt. Mike Clady
Terry Crews	...	Detective Terrence Washington
Naomie Harris	...	Linda Washington
Common	...	Coates
Game	...	Grill (as The Game)
Martha Higareda	...	Grace Garcia
John Corbett	...	Detective Dante Demille
Amaury Nolasco	...	Detective Cosmo Santos
Cle Sloan	...	Fremont
Noel Gugliemi	...	Quicks (as Noel G.)

Storyline

LAPD detective Tom Ludlow is a ruthlessly efficient, unorthodox undercover cop. Captain Jack Wander always covers for Tom, as do even his somewhat jealous colleagues. After technically excessive violence against a vicious Korean gang during the liberation of a kidnapped kid sex slave, Tom becomes the target of IA's hotshot, captain James Biggs, who feels passed over after Wander's promotion to chief. Tom's corrupt, disloyal ex-patrol partner Terrence Washington sides with IA but is killed during a shop robbery in Tom's presence.

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Plot Keywords:

violence | ankle holster | ankle | holster | captain | 

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Taglines:

Their City. Their Rules. No Prisoners.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [France] Fox Searchlight [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Turkish

Release Date:

11 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night Watch

Filming Locations:

48th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,469,631, 13 April 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$26,415,649, 13 July 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Regency Enterprises, 3 Arts Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clifton Powell is the only actor to appear in Street Kings (2008), as well as Street Kings 2: Motor City (2011). He played a different character in both movies.

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Goofs

The guns the thugs use in the convenience store are chambered in 9mm, Ludlow's revolver is chambered in .38 special. These two bullets are the exact same diameter and it was covered up that Ludlow was ever even there in the first place. There would have been no reason for a medical examiner to think or try to determine that one bullet came from a different gun.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Boss Kim: Yo dawg.
Tom Ludlow: Konnichiwa.
Boss Kim: What?
Tom Ludlow: Konnichiwa. Konnichiwa. It means what's up. So what the fuck's up?

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Connections

References Serpico (1973)

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Soundtracks

Down 4 My N's
Written by Snoop Dogg (as Calvin Broadus), Magic (as Awood Johnson Jr.),
C-Murder (as Corey Miller), Carlos Stephens and Donald Robertson
Performed by C-Murder, Snoop Dogg and Magic
Courtesy of Priority Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Flawed but good movie.

I wasn't expecting much from Street Kings, just to be entertained and that's what I got. Keanu Reeves played the part good, Hugh Laurie did exceptionally well, while the worst acting in the movie was from Chris Evans. Chris Evans was wooden and didn't seem to be able to act his way out of a glass box, during the argument in the locker room between him and Reeves I bit my tongue to keep from laughing as Reeves was actually doing a good job. The story was good, flawed and slow in places, but overall good. Sure the movie could've had a better cast but it doesn't and the only surprise here is that Chris Evans was worse than Keanu Reeves.