Bullets, badges and Depends

Another skel DVD from the L.A. Liberry's slammer.

Righteous Kill (2008)

When Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro first met there was HEAT on the screen (which was also the title of the film). But in that Michael Mann classic, they were only together on screen for literally one brief scene. Righteous Kill has them together on screen like a pair of Siamese Twins in a Farrelly Brothers movie.

Righteous Kill blows and sucks. Have you seen the poster? Good grief, Pacino and DeNiro look old, bored and tired. Little known fact: that was the original title of this film, Old, Bored and Tired. There's a serial killer on the loose in New York City, one who specializes in killing scumbags who slip through the system or just catch too many breaks while doing their scumbaggery. DeNiro (66 yrs old) and Pacino (69 yrs old) as WAAAAY over the hill veteran cops "Turk" and "Rooster" lead the investigation, which soon begins to point its liver-spotted finger at a cop as the most likely suspect. "Turk and Rooster?" Well, I guess "Tango and Cash" and "Starsky and Hutch" were already taken. (There's a reason for BOTH cops having goofy nicknames, but I'll let you figure it out should you really want to punish yourself and watch this movie.)

I picked this up for the two acting heavyweights, but after seeing the DVD cover and watching the first several minutes I realized that Pacino's and DeNiro's best days are long behind them. They might surprise me, but I sincerely doubt it. Especially DeNiro -- once you play not only the live action Boris Badenov in the Bullwinkle movie, but also the shit for brains psycho dad in the Meet the Parents movies, you've reached the end of your acting rope. You have nowhere else to go, nothing left to discover, nothing left to give your audience but, at best, poor retreads of your past work, and at worst, forgettable somnambulistic crap like this. Pacino fared a little better here, having some small spark of fire behind his eyes (DeNiro often resembled a Robert DeNiro wax figure). Maybe its frequently going back to the theater that keeps Pacino somewhat fresh. Perhaps DeNiro needs to get back with Martin Scorsese to rejuvenate himself.

Carla Gugino had the most interesting character in the movie, a CSI type who is into rough sex and not much else in a "relationship." A whole movie built around her would have been far more interesting than this tired cops and robber-killing cops movie.

ps: what was up with Brian Dennehy (their police Lieutenant)? The dude has lost a LOT of weight, but my gosh he looked like a cancer victim or something; he looked like death warmed over. Instead of being happy to see him, I just felt bad for him.