Street Kings

Name: Street Kings
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: April 11, 2008
Duration: 109 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Keanu Reeves

2008

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 106 Ratings

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 106 Ratings

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Street Kings

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Movie Details & Credits

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: April 11, 2008 | R

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 himIn 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

Director: David Ayer

Genre(s): Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 109 min

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Critic Reviews

Kirk Honeycutt

"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. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

There's a lot to appreciate in Street Kings, a tight, propulsive action thriller, but there's one thing to marvel at, and that's James Ellroy's command of story. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

A solid contemporary crime drama. Read full review

Shawn Levy

For what's essentially a bad movie, Street Kings is fairly tight and energetic. Read full review

Scott Tobias

After all the actorly fireworks, Street Kings concludes that the LAPD is an institution where even the well-intentioned can't work clean. Okay. What else? Read full review

Dana Stevens

There's something cynical about Ayer's attempt to preserve Ludlow as a hero after scene upon scene meant to show, with heavy irony, how lawlessly he enforced the law. You can't lionize your "Dirty Harry" vigilante and expose his hypocrisy, too. Read full review

Pete Vonder Haar

Two things come to mind as you watch the first act of Street Kings, the first is how fresh and exciting the movie would’ve been if it was released in 1984, the second is the question, “James Ellroy wrote that?” Read full review

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User Reviews

moviefreak12

Dec 15, 2010

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

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JS.

Apr 15, 2008

A dark and gritty look at a rogue LAPD detective that is far more plausible than most give it credit for.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

m0ngy

Jul 20, 2013

'Street Kings' is certainly a cut above most other gritty cop dramas, hardly surprising since it was written by James Elroy, the master of the genre. If you haven't read 'American Tabloid', go out and get it. I'd say it's genre defining, it's that good. Like many like all the big Hollywood'Street Kings' is certainly a cut above most other gritty cop dramas, hardly surprising since it was written by James Elroy, the master of the genre. If you haven't read 'American Tabloid', go out and get it. I'd say it's genre defining, it's that good. Like many like all the big Hollywood stars, Keanu almost always plays himself, which serves him well playing edgy, emotionally spent Detective Tom Ludlow. Forest Whitaker is absolutely brilliant, probably the best role he's had since 'Ghost Dog'. He's fantastic to watch in the riveting, final scene, I think there's great chemistry between Whitaker and Reeves. I loved the snappy, 'street jive' type dialogue, and much of the story is quite believable, if somewhat convoluted, but never contrived or boring. Like another reviewer said, I think it sort of comes together a bit quick at the end, I would've enjoyed another 20 mins to flesh the story out a bit more. Hey, I could watch this stuff all day, it's that good. Yet again, the critics are clueless, 'Street Kings' is a really entertaining film, highly recommended.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JoshB.

Aug 19, 2008

Saw this at the cinema. Very good. Better then I expected especially from Keanu. He was very good!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

bfoore90

Jan 11, 2016

Decently acted Keanu Reeves led Cop-thriller based in LA and involving the corruption of the LAPD, which seems to be what alot of David Ayers work seems to revolve around. Dialogue and characterization is pretty good with good acting from most of the cast with Hugh Laurie taking the leadDecently acted Keanu Reeves led Cop-thriller based in LA and involving the corruption of the LAPD, which seems to be what alot of David Ayers work seems to revolve around. Dialogue and characterization is pretty good with good acting from most of the cast with Hugh Laurie taking the lead with his typical Gregory House-like charm. While the movie overall is good if you like hard-nosed, clear cut cop thrillers, the ending is rushed and a tad bit incoherent.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MikeN.

Apr 11, 2008

Not a terrible movie, but not a terribly good movie either. Forest Whitaker was awesome, as usual. Keanu Reeves was his usual self, not that that

0 of 0 users found this helpful

ShandraL.

Apr 29, 2008

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 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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