Street Kings

A bruising and noir-infused view of contemporary L.A. cops, "Street Kings" is like "L.A. Confidential" but in the modern day and with Keanu Reeves, and it's not a patch on "Confidential" but is still an entertaining movie.

Tom Ludlow (Reeves) is a top cop in L.A.'s police department, but 'cleans up' dirty situations that are kept quiet by his unit, particularly his superior Wander (Whitaker). However, Ludlow's career takes a turn for the worse as he's framed for the murder of another cop, and he has to confront the mixture of antagonism and apathy amongst his unit and other cops to try to find the real killers, as well as discover who framed him.

Keanu Reeves can be the star of a film; we all know that. But here it's like it's the first movie he's ever starred in, and you find yourself wondering why he's been held in such esteem as an actor! His character Tom Ludlow is a disassociated and anti-social freak though, so I'm guessing that he's tailored the performance a little that way. Still, it isn't his best role. Forest Whitaker is great though. The man sounds like Denzel here, and his chief cop character Wander exudes control and a sense of his own self-satisfaction throughout, shades of Idi Amin coming through in Whitaker's performance.

The two women in the film, Naomi Harris (best known from "28 Days Later" and "Pirates of the Carribean") and Martha Higareda are side characters. Nothing more is given to them to do like Kim Basinger had in "Confidential", and this takes away from their placing in the film. But then the story does focus on the men, and so this is probably a good indication of why they are sidelined for most of the narrative

Hugh Laurie leads the pack with Chris Evans in terms of supporting actors, the British actor in particular adding a bit of class to the proceedings as an internal affairs chief after Reeves' character. Evans plays an ally of Ludlow, and the young American actor does a little to erase the horrors of "Fantastic Four" here. Terry Crews ably presents himself as the character on which the narrative swings, his former friend to Reeves' Ludlow an antagonistic fellow cop. The rappers mentioned above provide roles of the street guys that the cops either go after or work with, and as they've pretty much been pushed into these roles, the two (Common and The Game) do alright with what they're given.

David Ayer presents L.A. and its cops as harsh, gritty and distinctly urbane, as opposed to other crime films that make it clear the cops are not at all integrated into their city. As such, the film is ably directed, and the director seems very familiar with the city at large; one of the directors who seems most capable of presenting it as accurately. With James Ellroy as the writer, "Street Kings" was onto a winner before it went into production, and merging both Ayers and his visions of Los Angeles was a masterstroke. They'll destroy your faith in L.A. cops, sure, but their conversations, slang and the way that the plot so meticulously unravels are Ellroy at his best, and the film is the better for his input.


The music was almost like blaring horns throughout; perhaps reflecting the characters and their perceived treachery at all turns. Whilst not really a functional soundtrack as such, the music (as it is) does background the action quite well throughout, though it's nothing special. L.A. in all its gritty, conurbation goodness is cleanly and slickly presented here by Ayer, and with his previous two films being set in the same city dealing with cops, he must be quite familiar with the environment, as the city becomes a part of the movie's intricacies in plot, jumping from location to location. The gunfights are quick, authentic and violent, and as such appear more realistic than in many other crime movies.

All in all, "Street Kings" is no patch on "L.A. Confidential", but as a screenplay, it was never going to top that. Reeves is convincing enough if not the most competent actor in the world, but it's still an entertaining crime film to watch.

7/10