It has been thirteen years since Heat was brought to the screen and the right Hollywood elements have been assembled, again, to bring these two heavyweights of cinema together for another big screen outing. This time they come together as two cops who have been partners for years with the NYPD in Jon Avnet's crime drama, Righteous Kill. As NYPD detectives Rooster and Turk, Pacino and De Niro are trying to track down a serial killer who seems to have taken justice into their own hands by targeting criminals as their victims. The two detectives are conflicted in their investigation; how passionate can a detective be about hunting down someone they feel is doing a service to the community and to the human race, even though how they are going about it is against the law? As the investigation progresses and the plot twists and turns (as all crime drama and thriller plots usually do), the detectives begin to suspect that it may be one of their own behind the killings.
Once again, the hype around another movie that is pairing these two titans was extremely high. This time it seems that the lesson was learned from Heat and Pacino and De Niro are in almost every scene together and they are rarely seen apart. Do they play off each other as we would expect them to? Sure. The charisma and intensity that both are known for are there and neither one tries to override the other, proving that both of these men are two of the best actors in American cinema. The director, Jon Avnet, knows just what these two men are capable of and what they are individually good at. De Niro is in his element as a tough guy who rarely shows vulnerability and sensitive emotions. As for Pacino, I was so glad to see Avnet use his distinct comedic ability, which, in my opinion, is the one thing that makes Pacino such an amazing actor. He has subtle ways of drawing laughs that leaves me in awe of his acting ability. His character's wise-cracking one-liners and obvious intelligence play the perfect brain to the De Niro character's brawn.
Performances aside, the movie took at bit too long to develop into the slick, well-balanced movie you would normally expect. The first half of the movie seemed disjointed and, at times, it was hard to follow the chronology of the scenes. This seemed to stem from a combination of poor editing choices and some flaws in the script construction. These are not detrimental flaws by any means, but it made an already involved plot difficult to follow. These problems seem to work themselves out later in the movie and it continues in a more or less linear fashion to the ending. The premise of the story works quite well and, as in most crime thrillers, the plot draws you into trying to figure out who the killer is before it's revealed (it was a little too easy for my taste, but interesting nonetheless).
What intrigued me most about this film was one of it's underlying themes: Right vs. Might. Can Might truly make Right, or does Right make Might? This moral dilemma has its roots all the way back in the legends of King Arthur. The Right vs. Might struggle was the central theme in T.H. White's classic Arthurian novel, "The Once and Future King." King Arthur and his knights were conflicted as to whether they should use their Might (strength, power, violence) to make peace and make things Right, or whether to always do the morally Right thing and that would make them Mighty among men.
This is the dilemma that the characters in Righteous Kill face, not to mention real detectives and police officers everyday. Is taking justice into our own hands and using our Might the Right thing to do? Or should we trust in the law and in what we know is the Right thing to do? For this movie, the answer to these questions ultimately determines what kind of person you are. From the beginning of the film, we have some ideas as to where the characters stand on this issue. But, this movie makes it clear that you cannot always assume the answer to these questions by looking at the way someone outwardly appears.
I am awarding Righteous Kill with three stars. With more conscious editing, it could have been an even better film. Despite that fact, it was an entertaining film and fulfilled it's role as a crime drama/thriller. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro do what they do best and meet up to the expectations that movie audiences have had since Heat. I realize that many people will be going to see this movie just because of the pairing of these two again. While this is, indeed, an exciting experience, try and listen to what the movie is trying to say and the reactions it draws from you. You might just learn something about yourself.
Until next time....
P.S. The introductory post for the next Freedom Film Series next month should be up tomorrow and the fliers will be up around the library as well. Hope to see you there!
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