Street Kings
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Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 28 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 68 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Keanu Reeves
  • Summary: In Street Kings, a police thriller directed by David Ayer, Keanu Reeves plays Tom Ludlow, a veteran LAPD Vice detective. Ludlow sets out on a quest to discover the killers of his former partner, Detective Terrance Washington. Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker plays Captain Wander, Ludlow's supervisor, whose duties include keeping him within the confines of the law and out of the clutches of Internal Affairs Captain Biggs (Hugh Laurie). Ludlow teams up with a young Robbery-Homicide detective (Chris Evans) to track Washington's killers through the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Their determination pays off when the two detectives track down Washington's murderers and confront them in an attempt to bring them to justice. (Fox Searchlight)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 28
  3. Negative: 2 out of 28
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    80
    "Kings" covers familiar territory but does so with ruthless efficiency, intense performances and a densely packed plot designed to highlight the moral issues that most concern Ayer and Ellroy.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: Ian Nathan
    60
    Another mean, violent and decently acted slab of Ellroy-flavoured criminality, with an impressively battered Keanu Reeves, but Ayers is no Curtis Hanson.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    58
    Every so often, Keanu Reeves' robo-voiced blankness serves him well, but when he has to play a pulpy, tormented demon-saint, scraping up insults and spitting them out like bullets, he's like the host of an infomercial doing an impersonation of a badass.
  4. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    Wastes a moderately intriguing premise by filling it with laughably clichéd dialogue, one-dimensional characters and implausible turns of events.

See all 28 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 28
  3. Negative: 1 out of 28
  1. moviefreak12
    10
    great cop movie great plot and acting. the fighting scenes are well done and has some well placed plot twistes. street kings is one of the best movies of 2009… Expand
  2. JackB
    8
    Easily the best cop movie out in the last few years, gritty yet slick and stylish. Keanu Reeves suits the role well and is the best thing I've seen him in in ages. Could have done with being another 10-15 minutes longer but overall very enjoyable.… Expand
  3. DavidS.
    7
    Astounding dialogue, subtle characterization, pretty solid acting across the board, but - for a movie whose ending is clear pretty much from the get-go - it gets kind of rushed and incoherent at the end.… Expand
  4. ShandraL.
    2
    Although there are lots of fight scenes, the plot is slow-moving and tedious. Hugh Laurie is a total disappointment and his wraith-like, inconsequential character is 2-dimensional and without any apparent reason for being in the film. The only good thing about the film was the plethora of good-looking people - Keanu is still drool-alicious.… Collapse

See all 28 User Reviews

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