The name James Ellroy has, over the years, become synonymous with the crime film. From LA Confidential to Dark Blue, even to true crime such as The Black Dahlia, for better or worse, James Ellroy is there. What does that have to do with Street Kings? Well, Ellroy wrote the story the film is based on and also has a screenwriting credit.
Street Kings is a journey into the dark and corrupt world of Vice Detective Tom Ludlow, a man who is not averse to breaking the rules in order to uphold the law, described as the tip of the spear of the squad of which he is a member. This movie takes us into their world, a world that is on the brink of crumbling around them. It is an entertaining if predictable romp that does not rank among the best of the genre, nor among Ellroy's best work. Despite that fact, Street Kings remains an engrossing ride that you will watch through to the end without being bored (and all some of us need is some entertainment).
Detective Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) wakes up, fully dressed, looks at himself long and hard in the bathroom mirror, throws up, and heads out to work. Work for him includes stopping by the liquor store to pick up a few of those little airplane-size bottles of vodka, you know, just so he can get through the day. The opening sequence does not have much bearing on the overall plot, but it does go a long way to revealing just what Ludlow is all about. He will do whatever it takes to get the job done, including baiting the bad guys with racial epithets, shooting first, and planting guns on the suspects. While he does this, knowing that he has to do what needs to be done, his commanding officer, Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker), is there to cover his back, protecting him from Internal Affairs.
With the opening out of the way, the plot begins to heat up. Everything begins to go south for Ludlow when it is learned that his former partner, Terrance Washington (Terry Crews), is selling him out to Internal Affairs. At the same time, an IA agent named Biggs (Hugh Laurie) begins investigating, trying to get Ludlow to slip up. Meanwhile, Ludlow is obviously upset over his former partner and heads out to have a "talk" with him, only to wind up in the wrong place at the wrong time when a couple of gang-bangers arrive and leave Washington full of lead.
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1 - Mona
I love reading your blogs!