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, Carla Gugino

1 win & 2 nominations.

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

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Plot Keywords:

woman in a men's room | murder of a priest | washington heights manhattan | black pantyhose | nypd | 

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Taglines:

Watch your back.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert De Niro and Oleg Taktarov also appear in 15 Minutes (2001).

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Goofs

When the priest is shot in the confessional, his body is flung backwards. But when seen from outside the confessional, his body comes through the door face first.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rooster: One, between the eye!
Turk: Two, between the eye!

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Crazy Credits

In the credits, there is a stunt double for Ms. Peltz.

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Connections

Referenced in Everything Wrong with...: Everything Wrong with The Happening in 21 Minutes or Less (2019)

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Soundtracks

Nocturne
Written by Stephen Edwards
Published by Source in Sync Music (ASCAP)/Engine Co 35 Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

User Reviews

The Lack Of Forensic Clues

When Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro teamed for the first time in Heat the main complaint from fans was that there was not enough screen time for them together. In fact the one scene in that film that had them together was shoe horned into the film. It had to be because in that one the two were on opposite sides of the law.

No problem on that score here because in Righteous Kill, Pacino and DeNiro play a pair of veteran police detectives who take the job very seriously indeed. What they're working on now is as the leads in team that is tracking down a serial killer who likes to leave little poetical epitaphs behind for each victim.

The plot here is borrowed from Magnum Force, but in that film, Hal Holbrook has recruited a personal death squad from among the young officers of the San Francisco PD. and Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry is trying to solve the case. When these guys do figure it out that it's a cop doing the killing, it's one individual however doing it on their own.

This is not a harmonious team that Lieutenant Brian Dennehy has put together. Carla Gugino is trying to show she's as tough as the men and a couple of younger detectives, John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg are wanting bad to show up the older Pacino and DeNiro.

Righteous Kill is pure gold when the two acting legends are on the screen together. When the attention is not on them however, the story does drag a bit in spots. In fact the very lack of forensic clues at the crime scenes should have alerted this team as to where to look for the killer.

Still no opportunity to see Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro for the price of one ticket should be missed.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Russian

Release Date:

12 September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Righteous Kill

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,288,361, 14 September 2008

Gross USA:

$40,081,410

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$79,498,846

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (EFO Films), Grosvenor Park Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1