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Righteous Kill

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Righteous Kill (2008)

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Reviews Counted:11

Fresh:1

Rotten:10

Average Rating:3.6/10

Consensus: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro do their best to elevate this dowdy genre exercise, but even these two greats can't resuscitate the film's hackneyed script.

Rated: 15

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:25-09-2008

Synopsis: Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer in the... Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer in the adrenaline fueled psychological thriller Righteous Kill, directed by Jon Avnet (Red Corner, Fried Green Tomatoes) and written by Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man). The cast also features hip-hop superstar Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Get Rich or Die Tryin’).

After 30 years as partners in the pressure cooker environment of the NYPD, highly decorated Detectives David Fisk and Thomas Cowan should be ready for retirement, but aren’t. Before they can hang up their badges, they are called in to investigate the murder of a notorious pimp, which appears to have ties to a case they solved years before.

Like the original murder, the victim is a suspected criminal whose body is found accompanied by a four line poem justifying the killing. When additional crimes take place, it becomes clear the detectives are looking for a serial killer, one who targets criminals that have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system. His mission is to do what the cops can’t do on their own—take the culprits off the streets for good. The similarities between the recent killings and their earlier case raise a nagging question: Did they put the wrong man behind bars? --© Overture Films
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Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Carla Gugino

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Carla Gugino, Dan Futterman, Donnie Wahlberg, Trilby Glover, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo

Director: Jon Avnet

Director: Jon Avnet
Screenwriter: Russell Gerwitz
Producer: Rob Cowan, Avi Lerner, Randall Emmett, Jon Avnet, Lati Grobman
Composer: Ed Shearmur
Studio: Overture Films

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Reviews for Righteous Kill

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1 - 11 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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And so the film trundles on. A preposterously booming score just serves to emphasise the clichéd script, sound design and cinematography.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
09/26/08
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

They require a bigger stage, a sharper script and a more rigorous director. Without these, the long-awaited De Niro/Pacino show amounts to nothing so much as a novelty bout, a celebrity sparring session. Its sound and fury signifies very little.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/08
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]
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The plot is irrelevant because the film is utterly infatuated with the two big egos.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
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Scenes come and go in clouds of confusion, flashbacks and cutaways leaping in and out of the action like misbehaving children, but a moral stink persists.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/26/08
Matthew De Abaitua
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
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They look like jobbing veteran actors picking up another payday in some routine cop filler, and Avnet’s busily clueless direction offers them and the clunky writing little help. Pacino. De Niro. It’s over.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
09/26/08
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Righteous Kill is a rote and lumbering thriller that forgets to supply any thrills, and which hangs on the revelation of a twist so obvious that tension dissipates long before the so-called big reveal.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/26/08
Chris Hewitt (UK)
Chris Hewitt (UK)
Empire Magazine
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Taken purely on its merits as a psychological thriller, Righteous Kill is probably a two-star film. The third star is there strictly for De Niro and Pacino. Playing off each other, they stir up the ghosts of past greatness.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
09/12/08
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Time, alas, doesn't so much pass in Righteous Kill as crawl, despite the usual overcutting, which tries to pump energy into the inert proceedings.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/12/08
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
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They seem comfortable enough in each other's company on-screen to make you wish there were more scenes that allowed them to just kick back and riff. It'd be a lot more enjoyable than watching the movie strain for clarity -- or cleverness.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/11/08
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Los Angeles Times
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An ordinary cop picture boosted by two charismatic superstars but hindered by its dearth of surprises.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
09/11/08
Luke Sader
Luke Sader
Hollywood Reporter
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At once groaningly predictable and needlessly convoluted.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/11/08
Justin Chang
Justin Chang
Variety
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Latest News for Righteous Kill

January 21, 2009: Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees
No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will... More...

January 04, 2009: Equally gritty old school crime thriller and flashy seductive post-modern whodunit noir, along with De Niro's off the job kinky rough sex lover forensic babe (Carla Gugino) who likes him to role play criminals in bed, Righteous Kill delivers the goods. Opens in new window
More...

January 03, 2009: Equally gritty old school crime thriller and flashy seductive post-modern whodunit noir, along with De Niro's off the job kinky rough sex lover forensic babe (Carla Gugino) who likes him to role play criminals in bed, Righteous Kill delivers the goods. Opens in new window
More...

November 28, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: Local Critics Warm To Changeling; De Niro Delights But What Just Happened Doesn't
It's Friday, there's a new raft of movies in the UK cinemas this week, but are any of them any good? This week the UK film hacks give us their opinions on Clint Eastwood's... More...

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