Street Kings (2008)

Director:

David Ayer

Writers (WGA):

James Ellroy (screenplay) and
Kurt Wimmer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Their City. Their Rules. No Prisoners.

Plot:

Tom Ludlow is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him. |

Plot Keywords:

Death | Lapd | Dead Wife | Black Cop | Police Harassment

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Jan. 5	12:15 AM	HBO
Sat. Jan. 9	11:00 PM	HBO
Fri. Jan. 15	4:00 AM	HBO

Cast

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
Martha Higareda	...	Grace Garcia
John Corbett	...	Detective Dante Demille
Amaury Nolasco	...	Detective Cosmo Santos
Noel Gugliemi	...	Quicks (as Noel G.)
Michael Monks	...	Pathologist
Daryl Gates	...	The Chief (as Daryl F. Gates)

Also Known As:

Night Watch (USA) (working title)
The Night Watchman (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and pervasive language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Turkish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Ireland:16 | Finland:K-15 | UK:15 | Norway:15 | Malaysia:18PL | Australia:MA | USA:R (certificate #44158) | Hong Kong:IIB | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Sweden:15 | Iceland:16 | South Africa:16LV | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | France:-12 | Denmark:15 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:18 (cut) | Italy:VM14 | Taiwan:R-12 | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Austria:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Spain:18 | Brazil:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

James Ellroy wrote the screenplay in the mid-1990's inspired by the O.J. Simpson trial. Over the years, Spike Lee, David Fincher, and Oliver Stone were attached to direct the film at various stages of pre-production. Sean Penn was once attached to star. John Ridley contributed to an early version of the screenplay. Belgian director Erik Van Looy was set to direct this film according to various interviews, but these plans were scrapped in preproduction, upon which Van Looy went on to direct Loft (2008/I) in his home country.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ludlow shoots the Korean guy who was sitting on a toilet, he falls and we see that he has his pants on and the toilet seat is actually down. Later, when Ludlow plants the weapon on the guard at the desk, we see over his shoulder that the toilet seat is now up.

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?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: City of Fallen Angels: Making 'Street Kings' (#15.5)" (2008)

Okay thriller had too many cooks and was too long in the oven to as good as it should have been

James Ellroy penned tale of a cop, played by Keanu Reeves, who is a loose cannon sent on the trail of the killer of his murdered partner. Protected by his captain because he can get things done and hounded by Internal Affairs, Reeves soon finds he is descending into a world that he really should not be part of. Reeves is okay, if a bit wooden as our antihero. Part of the problem is that he isn't given a great deal to do beyond allowing events to play out around him. To be certain he is a participant in events but there is a coldness to him that doesn't give a great many clues as to what is happening inside him. One would suspect he took the role because it offered him a chance to say some pithy lines, and behave in a more or less serious manner. The rest of the cast is quite good and one suspects that Forest Whitaker (as his boss) and Hugh Laurie (The Internal Affairs guy) took the roles because they got to play a bit against type. Good instead of great the films script, a long time in the oven, shows signs of being worked and reworked so much that the script becomes confused because too many hands lost track of what was going on. Rest assured that the central thrust and much of the dialog seems to be the work of Ellroy, the ending is most assuredly his in plot if not writing, but all of the details the additional writers have added have blurred what ever had attracted a long line of directors and stars to the project. Worth a look on DVD or cable where you're more likely to forgive the flaws.