Now, for Street Kings.
I read a review and prepared myself for the worst; thankfully, I'm not alone in thinking this wasn't a total was of time. With a plot that is obvious from the get-go, SK needed to have an actor in the lead who could convince you that, yes, there are people dim enough to not see the conclusion a mile away. Not just any conclusion: a standing-on-train-tracks, hearing-a-train-whistle, seeing-a-bright-light-coming-towards-you kind of conclusion. And still... still he manages to look hurt and confounded when he gets hit by that goddamned train.Do NOT watch this movie for its plot, script or Keanu. Instead, watch it for some of the best kickassery moments of action, Hugh Laurie's smarmy best, Forest Whitaker's take on a B-movie bad-guy and one of the funnest chase scenes ever. Also, the lines:
- leaning over the bullet-riddled body of his ex-partner, kneeling in a small pond of blood, Ludlow says "stay with me!" - audience cracks up.
- Disco asks Ludlow: "so, we're just going to go in there and kill him?"; Ludlow replies, "No, I'm going to ask him some questions (long pause) then we're going to kill him."
- Wander: "you went toe to toe with evil and you won!"
- quite possibly in the most racist-yet-ironic sentences I've ever heard on screen (and right before Ludlow gets the piss beaten out of him): "It means you got eyes like apostrophes, dress white, talk black and drive Jew. So how am I supposed to know what kind of zipperhead-dog-munching dinks you are if you don’t." ...anyone else find it interesting that this is coming out of the mouth of a someone with a Hawaiian-English-Chinese background?
- finally, Wander: "You want to talk? Let's talk about my foot up your ass."
and let's face it: I watched it for the Keanu. 3 out of 5 stars.
1 comment:
I was going say that I disagree, that I DO think he's a good actor, but that I'm in the minority with this opinion, that my bad actor comments were more of a pre-emptive strike. I was going to say that he doesn't suck - that he fills niche roles anyone else would have a hard time filling.
Instead, what I will say is this: he struggles to rise above a bad script. Given a good one, he almost glows on-screen; given a bad one, and he has to resort to his characteristic neck-twitching, rapid-blinking poses that really detract from his acting. But this movie isn't about acting - this was a shoot-em-up that tried to pitch us Reeves-as-Ludlow who's a street-wise cynical cop who gets duped by the people he trusts - and Keanu just couldn't sell it. Anyone would have had a hard time selling that script.
Thanks for stopping by; if I'm ever looking to be an accredited movie reviewer, I'll make sure to keep your suggestions in mind.
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