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Righteous Kill
Overture Films


5.4

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 32 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use

Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, Donnie Wahlberg, and Carla Gugino

A serial murderer walks the streets of Manhattan, targeting violent felons who have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system. All the victims are suspected criminals whose bodies are found accompanied by a four-line poem justifying the killing. The killer’s mission is to do what the cops can’t do on their own—take bad guys off the streets for good. When a notorious pimp becomes one of the killer’s victims, highly decorated detectives Turk and Rooster are called in to investigate. This case could easily be the biggest one in their 30 years on the force. With the unwitting help of a local drug dealer the detectives follow what few clues they have, but their search soon turns inward, eventually leading them full circle as they realize the killer may be one of their own. (Overture Films)

GENRE(S):	Crime \| Drama \| Mystery
WRITTEN BY:	Russell Gewirtz
DIRECTED BY:	Jon Avnet
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: September 12, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	100 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Film Threat Stina Chyn

I'd like to recognize Russell Gewirtz for a screenplay that boasts humor, an impressive plot twist, and for setting up plenty of room for De Niro and Pacino to get their grooves back in order.

Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams

Despite how easy it would be to write off Righteous Kill as one sorry excuse for lazy filmmaking, there is still something utterly mesmerizing in the palpable chemistry between the two leading men.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

A twisty, turny and ultimately silly thriller from "Inside Man's" Russell Gewirtz.

The Hollywood Reporter Luke Sader

An ordinary cop picture boosted by two charismatic superstars but hindered by its dearth of surprises.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

A relatively harmless movie that becomes killing-a-mockingbird sinful for what it does to its leads.

TV Guide Ken Fox

The entire movie is one big build-up to a twist that, while not exactly cheating, plays is an awfully cheap trick.

Washington Post Neely Tucker

It's astonishing how much intensity and focus these two have lost, but the picture itself is not all that bad -- if you can get the collapsing-career thing out of your head.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

In pairing the two icons, Righteous Kill is definitely an event. What it isn't is much of a movie. Such a waste.

Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour

Righteous Kill's script is credited to "Inside Man's" Russell Gewirtz, and you wonder how the sleek, nuanced flow of that earlier movie evaded this one.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The movie, which has more than 10 credited producers, feels like one of those slick, for-the-money projects Hollywood studios cook up via graph charts and marketing surveys.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Its failure to live up to even modest expectations is a blow. There's nothing righteous to be found here.

Chicago Reader Joshua Katzman

Watching these old pros play longtime buddies is a pleasure, especially since they're together in most scenes. But this thriller by Jon Avnet (88 Minutes) is mostly by the numbers, and its surprise ending, though effective, feels somewhat forced.

NPR Bob Mondello

Slack, morally ambiguous, decidedly sub-Dexter serial-killer-cop story that's been cooked up for them (De Niro/Pacino).

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Trudging through a thriller that would have felt warmed over in 1988, the pair investigate a serial killer.

Variety Justin Chang

Unable or unwilling to match the visceral chops and moral provocations of superior serial-killer chillers, Righteous Kill is content to be a twisty genre exercise; it's like "Seven" as reimagined by M. Night Shyamalan.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

A clutter of recycled cop-movie and serial-killer film clichés.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

Of the supporting performances, Gugino, Leguizamo and Wahlberg offer solid turns, but are let down by dialogue.

Time Richard Corliss

Instead of the meeting of maestros at the top of their form, Righteous Kill has the feeling of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds facing off for the first time in an exhibition game. It's like Old Timers' Day at the Motion Picture Home.

LA Weekly Tim Grierson

It's a sad state of affairs when the best news about Righteous Kill is that it isn't awful.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Under the guidance of Jon Avnet, they're (De Niro/Pacino) both playing New York police detectives - partners, no less - in the cop-and-serial-killer tale Righteous Kill, and they're thunderously mediocre.

Boston Globe Jason Matloff

When actors are as great as De Niro and Pacino, watching them in a movie like Righteous Kill is deadly.

USA Today Claudia Puig

By the time the movie reaches its protracted conclusion, it feels like a slog. Pacino has a few funny lines, as does Leguizamo, but not nearly enough to save the film from collapsing under the weight of its own self-righteous tedium.

The New Yorker David Denby

The movie is hectic, exhausting, and baffling. It's an embarrassment.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's not much fun to see these two reduced to "Mad TV" parodies of themselves.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Righteous Kill, a.k.a. The Al and Bob Show, is a cop flick with all the drama of "Law and Order: AARP." This movie defines drag-ass.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A slow-moving, ridiculous police thriller that would have been shipped straight to the remainder bin at Blockbuster if it starred anyone else.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

There's nothing righteous about this tired and tiresome good cop/bad cop NYPD procedural.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lev S. gave it a0:
Absolute DOG of a movie. Made with utter contempt and disrespect for the audience. Goes to show, just because you work in Hollywood and you've made a movie with de Niro and Pacino, you can still be a f***ing hack.

Josh F. gave it a2:
I feel ashamed to have sat through this all when everyone I started it with walked out, save for my brother. Deniro is a shadow of his former self and essentially an embarrassing contradiction, much like McCain. Why would either of the two leads' agents recommend this tripe to them? WOW! I still think Pacino can act, but this movie is no example I would submit to the jury whatsoever. After all these words, one more: WHY?!?

Adam M. gave it a9:
I read all the bad reviews for this movie beforehand and do not agree with them at all. I thought the screenplay was brilliant, great twist at the end, and the acting was pretty superb as well. Don't believe the hype, judge for yourself!

Michael M. gave it an8:
Occasionally the critics are too smart for their own good. This move is very well done and the crowd at the theater on Sunday afternoon seemed to agree with me. Lots of positive vocals going on and laughs in the right places. The two stars looked great and did an excellent job. Secondary players were equally good. Do yourself a favor and go take a look. My bet is you will like the film if you like De Niro and Pacino.

Chad S. gave it a5:
All aging actors reach a critical point of diminishing vim and collapsing vigor; to pretend otherwise, that the whatever-genarian isn't within shouting distance with his own mortality, would put a strain on the audience's suspension of disbelief. From John Wayne in "The Shootist" to Clint Eastwood in "Blood Work", the savvy actor knows its audience have a long memory; they'll remember the younger version of themselves with fondness, so he uses his weathered face like a Dorian Gray canvas to comment on his own body of work. But not seventies icons Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, who both act like they have appointments in Samarra. Since rappers are noted to adore Brian DePalma's "Scarface", the hip-hop setting in "Righteous Kill" is a clever acknowledgment of the black music community's love affair with Pacino's Tony Montana. (SPOILER ALERT!) When Rooster shoots Spider(50 Cent), it's like a kiss on the cheek, a note of thanks to the rap industry. Too bad it's not Pacino who does it doggy-style with Carla Gugino, then he could yell, "Say hello to my little friend," over Gugino's cries of "Harder! Harder!" DeNiro, by the way, is sixty-five-years-old; Gugino, thirty-seven. "Righteous Kill" is a routine police procedural with a denouement that insults the audience by cheating. Parceled throughout the film, Turk(Robert DeNiro) imparts a confession of sorts, in great length, on grainy black-and-white video, but when the moment of its recording is revealed, moviegoers will notice that the running time of his monologue doesn't match what they previously heard in its totality. Turk uses a notebook for reference, but in the video, he's always looking straight into the camera. "Righteous Kill" doesn't cheat to the extent of Frank Oz's "The Stepford Wives", or Alexandre Aja's "Haute Tension", but the filmmaker owes his audience a plausible twist ending that checks out.

Billy S. gave it a5:
Pacino. DeNiro. Acting Legends. Unfortunately, they will be remembered for their 10 minute scene together in Heat because nobody's going to remember them in Righteous Kill, a made-for-TV movie with take the money and run written right in the script!!

Daniel S. gave it a1:
this is how i imagine the dialogue in the film: DeNiro " i thought it was you!" Pacino " no I thought it was you!" repeat for however many hours..there's you're movie.

Righteous Kill Overture Films

Righteous Kill
Overture Films