O.K. I am admittedly a huge fan of Keanu's. Really I am. So I will review this as fairly as I can. <ugh>

Part of the problem is that there's nobody to root for here. Reeves' Ludlow isn't exactly likeable; which needn't be fatal as long as the movie has a compelling narrative and interesting characters.

But "Street Kings" is populated with macho-soaked types; spewing testosterone like it's a competitive sport and they seem to have no life beyond the job. This comes off as almost "cartoonish"

e.g. -- Ludlow seeks out Paul Diskant (Evans, from the "Fantastic Four" movies), a young homicide detective who's been assigned to the case, in hopes of determining what evidence there is against him. Instead what ends up happening is, Ludlow drags Diskant over to the dark side of the thin blue line, dragging the kid all over the city to watch as he whacks suspects in the head with a phone book, for example, to get information from them. (The Game is believably thuggish in this scene as a gang member.)

Anyway, Diskant still has some kind of a grasp on the difference between right and wrong, prompting this unintentionally hilarious exchange:

Ludlow: "This thing that you want, that you think you want, you don't want it."

Diskant: "You don't know what I want!"

What does that even mean??!!

Despite the HUGE ensemble, this is Reeves' film; everything revolves around him, for better and for worse. As he grows older, it's easier to accept him playing haggard, seen-it-all characters, as he did in 2005's "Constantine."

But there's still something too boyish and lightweight about him to make us deeply feel his torment -- he's not quite a street king, he's more like a prince.

I was really disappointed with this flick. Maybe I still long for the edge of your seat thrillers like "Speed". But with Keanu it's always the flip of the coin (call it!) when it comes to his movies.

And yes, I will still be a fan.

I saw this film Friday. And was debating on whether I would review this or not, but after reading what you had to say, I have to add to it!

The cliches and laughably hammy dialogue are scattered around just as liberally as the spent bullet casings in "Street Kings," an ultraviolent but tired bad-cop yarn --

Ludlow slugs vodka nips to make his way through each day; that's how he copes with his wife's death (Reeves is so typically low-key, you'd never know that his character is supposed to be drunk the whole time). But when he's implicated in the murder of his former partner Washington (Terry Crews), a "do-gooder" who'd been snitching to internal affairs, he must do some investigating of his own to defend himself. (Washington is obliterated by a couple of machine gun-toting gangsters in the aisles of a convenience store; and far-fetched manipulation of DNA samples will come into play later.)

It's surprising and disappointing given that this comes from a story by "L.A. Confidential" writer James Ellroy, who also co-wrote the script. HA!

You mentioned "Constantine". Man I loved that movie. And you're right, it is a coin toss (tails!). One year it's "Speed" and the next it's Johnny Pneumonic <sic>!

Wonder who liked the movie?

Once again great review. Well written.

I like you Earende and Zen like Keanu Reeves. I did like Constantine, as well as the Matrix trils. And it is a coin toss as to what he picks. I was disappointed with the film as well.

Maybe the next one coming out will be better. He's due.

S.D.

I'm a huge fan of Keanu's too.

I think I may be prejudiced, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him!

I thought it was pretty good and had a lot of action. It didn't make sense in some places, but I think that I may have been distracted.

I would go to see it again.

Smokey