Street Kings, starring Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker, was unfortunately, a typical police corruption flick. It reminded me a lot of Training Day, but then again, Training Day was written by the director of Street Kings so I suppose it shouldn’t be such a stretch.
Reeves’ character, Detective Tom Ludlow is in a special unit run by Captain Jack Wander (Whitaker) that cracks down on all the crimes in L.A. He, in fact, is the bulldog used in the attacks. And, he’s definitely good at what he does.
But, when Ludlow thinks his former partner, Detective Terrence Washington (played by Terry Crews, who, in my opinion, is best known for his pec work in White Chicks), is ratting him out to Internal Affairs, he gives in to his fly-off-the-handle nature and plans to beat him straight. Unfortunately, some gang bangers bust him first, which starts the chase for vengence.
The film unraveled after a couple plot twists and turns, people using other people, a few good beat downs and tons of bullets. I feel that while it attempted to portray the boys in blue, gang activity, politics within the force, police corruption and a gazillion other topics, it didn’t really capture the essence of any of them.
Reeves was intense, a callback to his Neo persona. Whitaker’s incongruent eyes distracted me the entire film, especially during his earnest dialogues with Ludlow. I never realized how small his small eye could get as it had never bothered me this much before. Also in this film: Jay Mohr as Ludlow’s sergeant, who wasn’t very convincing; Hugh Laurie as the Internal Affairs rat who actually did a great job; Cedric the Entertainer as a wisecracking informant; The Game and Common, stereotypically cast as gangsters; and Chris Evans as an up-and-coming detective.
The ensemble cast could not keep the movie’s plot afloat, but the bucketfuls of bullets were a useful compensation. I really expected more humor in this film because of the trailers. They kept showing some funny one-liners, but beware: those are the only one-liners in the show. The movie was gritty and I suppose, an authentic portrayal of life. Still, it didn’t break any new ground for cop shows or gang bangers flicks.
