Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

May 17, 2008 12:48:57 AM CDT



No Crown for Street Kings  

Posted Apr 11, 08 9:59 AM CDT in Arts & Living    Editor's Choice

(newser)Street Kings doesn't get a lot of love from critics, who say it resorts at times to the worst of cop-flick cliches. Keanu Reeves plays a cold-hearted, vodka-swigging LA vice cop who's hunting down his former partner's murderers. And while screenwriter James Ellroy's pulp machismo has worked before, here Reeves comes off "like the host of an infomercial trying to do the impersonation of a badass," writes Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly

Street Kings is a tired reiteration of a familiar morality tale—"the one righteous dude who gets his hands dirty operating outside of the law," writes Tim Grierson of the Village Voice. But then again, the LA underworld provides some "bigger than big emotions," according to the New York Times' Manohla Dargis. "It keeps you watching, really watching, all the way to the end."

Sources Metacritic, Entertainment Weekly, Village Voice, New York Times

open commentscomments (0)

Editor Recommended

More on Ellroy's woes
Defamer | Apr 4, 08

Reeves: can't beat The Matrix
Examiner.com | Apr 10, 08

No Crown for <em>Street Kings </em>
Cast member Keanu Reeves attends the premiere of "Street Kings" Thursday, April 3, 2008 in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Phil McCarten)
No Crown for <em>Street Kings </em>
Actor Keanu Reeves waits for his interview on the NBC "Today" television program, in New York's Rockefeller Center, Wednesday April 9, 2008. Reeves co-stars in the new movie "Street Kings."   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
No Crown for <em>Street Kings </em>
In this image released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, Keanu Reeves is shown in a scene from the film, "Street Kings".   (Associated Press)
No Crown for <em>Street Kings </em>
Cast member Forest Whitaker, left, and wife Keisha attend the premiere of "Street Kings" Thursday, April 3, 2008 in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Phil McCarten)
prev   next
play

Threads (1 of 1)

Tags

movie   action movie   Keanu Reeves



Loading...

Loading...

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Arts & Living Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »