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Movies / In Theaters / Righteous Kill
Righteous Kill

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Righteous Kill (2008)

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21 %
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Reviews Counted: 131

Fresh: 28

Rotten:103

Average Rating: 4.1/10

Consensus: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro do their best to elevate this dowdy genre exercise, but even these two greats can't resuscitate the film's hackneyed script.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release: Sep 12, 2008 Wide

Box Office: $39,811,690

Synopsis: Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer in the adrenaline fueled psychological thriller... Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer in the adrenaline fueled psychological thriller Righteous Kill, directed by Jon Avnet (Red Corner, Fried Green Tomatoes) and written by Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man). The cast also features hip-hop superstar Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Get Rich or Die Tryin’).

After 30 years as partners in the pressure cooker environment of the NYPD, highly decorated Detectives David Fisk and Thomas Cowan should be ready for retirement, but aren’t. Before they can hang up their badges, they are called in to investigate the murder of a notorious pimp, which appears to have ties to a case they solved years before.

Like the original murder, the victim is a suspected criminal whose body is found accompanied by a four line poem justifying the killing. When additional crimes take place, it becomes clear the detectives are looking for a serial killer, one who targets criminals that have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system. His mission is to do what the cops can’t do on their own—take the culprits off the streets for good. The similarities between the recent killings and their earlier case raise a nagging question: Did they put the wrong man behind bars? --© Overture Films
[More]

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Brian Dennehy

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Carla Gugino, Dan Futterman, Donnie Wahlberg

Director: Jon Avnet

Director: Jon Avnet
Screenwriter: Russell Gerwitz
Producer: Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Lati Grobman, Randall Emmett, Rob Cowan
Composer: Ed Shearmur
Studio: Overture Films

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Reviews for Righteous Kill

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Ratings Image

...the phrase phoning-it-in was practically invented for Pacino and De Niro's work here...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
11/26/08
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image

Russell Gewirtz's script is built around a trick, one that is simultaneously too clever by half and not clever at all (which itself is quite a trick).

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
11/12/08
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
Ratings Image

Nearly everything about this film is a cliché.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
11/05/08
Ben Mankiewicz
At the Movies
Ratings Image

Say it ain't so, Bobby and Al.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/18/08
Jason Matloff
Boston Globe
Ratings Image

A derivative and increasingly silly crime thriller.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/18/08
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
Ratings Image

There's nothing righteous about this tired and tiresome good cop/bad cop NYPD procedural from Avnet; in fact, it's pretty much an abomination from the get-go.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image

So somebody finally got De Niro and Pacino to co-star in a movie together and this is the best they could come up with?

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
10/18/08
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
10/18/08
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
Ratings Image

There's nothing righteous to be found here.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
10/18/08
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Ratings Image

Seeing Robert De Niro and Al Pacino circling the thin line between cop and criminal paints a giant grin on the face.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
10/18/08
Stina Chyn
Film Threat
Ratings Image

Direct Avnet is just plain terrible, and screenwriter Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man) should be ashamed of himself.

Full Review Source: The Cinema Source | comment Comment
10/12/08
Michael Dance
The Cinema Source
Ratings Image

Teria sido melhor se eles tivessem seguido o exemplo de Paul Newman e Robert Redford e interrompido a parceria enquanto esta ainda era trazia um histórico impecável.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
10/10/08
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

Moviegoers that haven't seen alot of cop mysteries will probably like it. I have seen too many of them so it was very unoriginal and just silly.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
10/08/08
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine
Ratings Image

It's good to see the two great actors of their generation back together in Righteous Kill. Frankly, though, although a few sparks of fire at times, the heat has subsided significantly.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
09/29/08
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News
Ratings Image

Why on earth did these legends sign on board? Surely better scripts must get passed along the golf course?

Full Review Source: Mansized | comment Comment
09/28/08
Chris Laverty
Mansized
Ratings Image

How sad that this summit of acting titans is in the service of a police-procedural drama that is at once convoluted, stupidly illogical and easily predictable.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
09/26/08
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
Ratings Image

Predictable, badly written and ultimately disappointing, this distinctly below-average thriller would have gone straight to DVD if it weren't for De Niro and Pacino.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/26/08
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

Instead, it's a rather pompous, disappointing one, and a squandered opportunity to boot.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
09/26/08
Anthony Quinn
Independent
Ratings Image

The movie goes nowhere and takes 100 minutes to do so. It should have cut its losses, gone for comedy and called itself Grumpy Old Cops.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
09/26/08
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
Ratings Image

Despite those major reservations, watching De Niro and Pacino is still an event.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/26/08
Sun Online
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for Righteous Kill

November 28, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: Local Critics Warm To Changeling; De Niro Delights But What Just Happened Doesn't
It's Friday, there's a new raft of movies in the UK cinemas this week, but are any of them any good? This week the UK film hacks give us their opinions on Clint Eastwood's... More...

October 03, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: How To Lose Friends & Alienate People Does Just That; Whilst Brideshead Revisited Is Resisted
In the UK cinemas this week we have two literary adaptations with Simon Pegg as an irksome hack in How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, and Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited... More...

September 27, 2008: Movies-BoxOffice: Equally gritty old school crime thriller and flashy seductive post-modern whodunit noir. Opens in new window
More...

September 23, 2008: CameraCinemas: Equally gritty old school crime thriller and flashy seductive post-modern whodunit noir, along with De Niro's off the job kinky rough sex lover forensic babe (Gugino) who likes him to role play criminals in bed, the movie delivers the goods Opens in new window
More...

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Related Forums for Righteous Kill

Real Boba
(2008)-RIGHTEOUS KILL gets burnt by Coen Bros. farce ... anybody laughing now???
by: Real Boba 10/5


Real Boba
(2008)-RIGHTEOUS KILL gets burnt by Coen Bros. farce ... anybody laughing now???
by: Real Boba 10/5


Critic review: 'Righteous Kill' with Pacino, De Niro is no 'Heat'
by: lovelacy 9/26


'Righteous' Isn't Boring Or Irritating; It's Simply Below Average And Numbing
by: MH and THE MOVIES 9/20


I knew it! Everyone said it was going to be great! I said,
by: ihateyourmovie 9/14
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