Righteous Kill

Saddled with the feel of a generic direct-to-video actioner, Righteous Kill undoubtedly comes off as nothing less than a colossal disappointment – as the film marks the first onscreen pairing of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro since 1995’s masterful Heat. And while there’s little doubt that the movie fares slightly better than director Jon Avnet’s previous effort, the nigh unwatchable 88 Minutes, the filmmaker’s rampant ineptitude, coupled with Russell Gewirtz’s increasingly tedious screenplay, ultimately ensures that Pacino and De Niro are left with little to do but strike a series of tough-guy poses while spouting eye-rollingly silly chunks of dialogue. The two Oscar winners star as veteran New York City detectives who find themselves caught up in an explosive case involving a vigilante serial killer, with problems ensuing as it becomes progressively apparent that a fellow police officer is the most likely suspect. It’s a decent premise that’s employed to hopelessly hackneyed effect by Gewirtz, as the screenwriter’s inability to evoke even a hint of authenticity proves impossible to overlook. The various performers’ subsequent efforts at injecting the proceedings with energy fall completely flat, which effectively cancels out the sporadically strong work from a supporting cast that includes Brian Dennehy, Carla Gugino, and Donnie Wahlberg (meanwhile, the phrase phoning-it-in was practically invented for Pacino and De Niro’s work here). Admittedly, Righteous Kill never quite morphs into the flat-out bore that it often threatens to become – the laughable third act certainly pushes it, though – yet it’s difficult not to feel as though Avnet has squandered what should’ve been an electrifying piece of work.

** out of ****