Street Kings

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Street Kings
Street KingsMP08.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Ayer
Screenplay by
Story byJames Ellroy
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyGabriel Beristain
Edited byJeffrey Ford
Music byGraeme Revell
Production
companies
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures[1]
Release dates
  • April 3, 2008 (2008-04-03) (Hollywood)
  • April 11, 2008 (2008-04-11) (United States)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[2]
Box office$66.5 million

Street Kings is a 2008 American action thriller film directed by David Ayer, and starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Common and The Game. The initial screenplay drafts were written by James Ellroy in the late 1990s under the title The Night Watchman.

The film was released in theaters on April 11, 2008 and was followed by a direct-to-video stand-alone sequel Street Kings 2: Motor City in 2011, with Clifton Powell returning as a corrupt cop.

Plot[]

Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned, alcoholic LAPD detective working undercover for a unit known as Vice Special. He meets in a parking lot with Korean gangsters who are looking to buy a machine gun from him and who he also believes have kidnapped two teenage girls. After a vicious beatdown, the gangsters steal his car. This was planned, however, and he has the cops locate the vehicle via GPS.

Upon arrival at their hideout, Ludlow storms in and kills the four gangsters inside, he then puts on gloves, takes a shot of vodka and alters the scene to make the shootings look justified. He then finds the two schoolgirls locked in a closet. While the other officers in his unit congratulate him, he is confronted by his former partner, Detective Terrence Washington, who no longer approves of the corruption as well as the deception and has gone straight, reporting the problems to Captain James Biggs, of Internal Affairs, who apparently starts an investigation against Ludlow.

Believing that Washington was snitching on him, Ludlow follows him to a convenience store to beat him up. But Washington is executed by two gangbangers under the pretense of a robbery. Though the two were working together to fight back, the surveillance video of the shootout shows Ludlow to have accidentally shot Washington while trying to protect him with his .38 revolver.

The DNA of two criminals known as Fremont and Coates is found at the scene, as well as a large amount of cash in Washington's possession. It is assumed that Washington was corrupt and stealing drugs from the department's evidence room and selling them to Fremont and Coates. Ludlow teams up with Detective Paul Diskant, who has been assigned to the official case to join him in his personal investigation.

Their search for the two involves gangmembers and drug dealers that eventually lead them to a house in the hills where they discover the bodies of the real Fremont and Coates buried in a shallow grave. The condition of the bodies makes it apparent that they were killed well before Washington's murder.

Ludlow and Diskant, posing as dirty cops who are willing to take over Washington's supposed activity of stealing and selling drugs, are able to set up a meeting with two criminals masquerading as Fremont and Coates. Ludlow questions who "Freemont and Coates" really are and when Diskant recognizes the two, he is shot and killed. Ludlow manages to kill both men and escapes back to his girlfriend's house, where a news report reveals the killers were undercover Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies.

Shortly afterward, Ludlow is subdued by Detective Cosmo Santos and Detective Dante Demille — two fellow officers from his unit. Taking Ludlow with them, the two admit that they planted Fremont and Coates' DNA and the money at the scene of Washington's murder. This causes Ludlow to learn that Washington was surrendering their captain, Jack Wander, up to Biggs, as they were the ones who were stealing drugs from the department's evidence room.

The two cops take Ludlow out to the house where the two bodies of the real Fremont and Coates were found earlier, for execution. But Ludlow manages to kill both of them. He then heads to Washington's house where their supervisor, Sergeant Mike Clady, is about to kill Washington's widow. He captures Clady and places him in the trunk of his car.

Ludlow confronts Wander at his house and apprehends him after a brawl between them. He then discovers that Wander has incriminating evidence against almost all the brass in the department, along with judges, council members and politicians. Wander planned to use the information to become LAPD chief and eventually Los Angeles mayor. Wander, asserting that he is Ludlow's best friend and mentor, attempts to buy off his silence by bribing him with a large amount of stolen money and incriminating documents — which Ludlow had uncovered from the wall moments ago. But Ludlow refuses and executes Wander.

Captain Biggs and Sergeant Green arrive, Biggs reveals to Ludlow that they used him to bring down Wander and get access to his files by opening his eyes to the real corruption going on within his unit. As he leaves, Biggs tells Ludlow that the department does need him.

Cast[]

Production[]

In 2004, it was announced that Spike Lee would be directing the film for a 2005 release.[3] In 2005, it was announced that Oliver Stone was in talks to direct the film.[4] However, Stone later denied this.[5] Training Day screenwriter David Ayer took over the project.

On February 5, 2008, it was announced that Fox Searchlight Pictures changed the film's title from The Night Watchman to Street Kings.[6]

Reception[]

Critical response[]

On Rotten Tomatoes 36% of 152 reviews of the film are positive with average rating of 5.11/10. The site's consensus reads, "Street Kings contains formulaic violence but no shred of intelligence."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8]

Box office[]

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $12.5 million from 2,467 theaters, finishing second at the box office. It went on to gross $26.4 million domestically and $39.2 million internationally for a total of $65.6 million.[9]

Home media[]

The DVD was released on August 19, 2008, as a single-disc offering with director commentary, and 2-disc special-edition set with numerous documentaries, interviews and a digital copy of the film. It is also available on Blu-ray disc with all the special features of the 2-disc DVD version. By January 2009, the film had made $14.6 million from DVD sales.[2]

Sequel[]

The film is followed by a sequel, Street Kings 2: Motor City, released direct-to-video in 2011. Other than both featuring Clifton Powell (playing different roles), the films are unrelated.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Street Kings". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Street Kings (2008) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  3. ^ "The Night Watchman Movie - Keanu Reeves to Star in The Night Watchman (Street Kings)". Movies.about.com. 2004-11-16. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  4. ^ "The Night Watchman Movie - Oliver Stone May Direct The Night Watchman (Street Kings)". Movies.about.com. 2005-04-25. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  5. ^ "IGN: Stone Denies Night Watchman". IGN. Archived from the original on May 25, 2005. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  6. ^ "The Night Watchman Retitled to Street Kings". ComingSoon.net. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  7. ^ "Street Kings". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Street Kings (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
  9. ^ "Street Kings (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved 2008-08-01.

External links[]

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