Righteous Kill is, in a way, not a “whodunit” but a “whydunit” that manages to be both surprising and predictable. 

Parse that sentence and weigh the ramifications, and you’ve got—in essence—a Reader’s Digest Condensed review that toys with you in the same way that Jon Avnet’s police thriller plays with its audience.  To say too much more would spoil the fun of the movie; but to say too little gives the filmmakers too much credit.

On one level, Righteous Kill is a serious examination of how miscarriages of justice affect our law enforcement officers.  “Turk” and “Rooster”—played by Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino—are two longtime NYPD homicide detectives who’ve too often seen scumbags go free on technicalities.  The film begins the tale of Turk’s and Rooster’s meltdown at its end, with Internal Affairs officers watching a videotaped confession of a serial-killing cop who has decided to take matters into his own hands, murdering fourteen deserving offenders, each of them a “righteous kill.”  It’s Turk on the tape.

It also so happens that Turk and Rooster get assigned to investigate that string of homicides.

Avnet, Pacino, and DeNiro do a decent enough job of selling the audience on the setup, with Pacino playing Good Cop to DeNiro’s Bad Cop.  It’s obvious to everyone in the department that Turk is burned out, willing to bend (and even break) the rules in order to nail criminals.  He pushes around defendants in court rooms, he pushes around fellow officers in softball games, and he gets in plenty of rough sex with Karen Corelli, a fellow detective with whom he’s having a fling.

In short, Turk is just the kind of cop everyone would suspect of being a serial killer—if it became clear that some cop, somewhere, were pulling the trigger.  So when fingers start getting pointed, it’s no surprise that they’re aimed in Turk’s direction… especially no surprise to the audience, which has been privy to Turk’s words on that videotape.

Somewhere along the way, Turk says, “I lost my faith.”  He describes killing criminals as an extension of the “infield fly rule,” where the hitter gets punished for a crummy play and infielders have the chance of cheating taken away.  It’s perfect, impassionate justice where everyone gets exactly what they deserve and nothing more.

I’d have to say that, in the execution of a tightly-plotted story of which M. Night Shyamalan might be proud (and these days, we know that’s not necessarily a compliment), Righteous Kill is the cinematic equivalent of the infield fly rule.  Both the studio and the audience will get exactly what they deserve—and expect—but not much more; and Avnet will be standing on the mound, snickering about having got away with throwing a spitter.

DeNiro and Pacino are certainly entertaining enough, though, and after The Happening it’s good to see John Leguizamo back in a supporting role that seems a good fit.  Brian Dennehy and Donnie Wahlberg also make welcome appearances.

So forget about the baseball analogy, sit back, and don’t crowd the plate.

Righteous Kill is rated R for “violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use.”  Did I mention that Turk uses the F word an awful lot, too?  That’s another of the ways you just know he’s gotta be guilty!  Yup, this is R-rated stuff.  But I’d still much sooner watch this than Good Luck Chuck or a PG-13 Norbit.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Greg attended a promotional screening of Righteous Kill.