What a dark, dark film this is… and, for its type, pretty entertaining too.

Keanu Reeves stars as Tom Ludlow, an L.A. police detective whose specialty is, uh, going maverick to get the bad guys… all without leaving incriminating evidence lying around. From the trailer, you might think that Reeves is on too-familiar ground here, what with Point Break, Speed, and The Matrix on his résumé. But his performance as Ludlow may strike you as unusually mature and serious, physically and emotionally—rather like the movie itself.

Yes, this is yet another tale of police corruption. It’s helmed by sophomore director David Ayer, who cut his genre teeth (among other projects) as writer, producer, and stunt performer on Training Day. The tone is noirish, rather like L.A. Confidential; but it’s also much more hip, feeling like Deep Cover for the 21^st Century. Like Fishburne’s undercover man in Deep, Ludlow is pretty much out there solo—the kind of cop that every citizen has the right to fear and hate, and yet the very kind that every law-abiding citizen hopes to have in the wings. Like Confidential’s Exley, he’s both dirty and principled, and he’s working in the context of a very corrupt system. The film is also written by Confidential’s James Ellroy, who also worked with Ayer on Dark Blue. The pedigree is all there.

So is there anything to recommend here? Yes, and no.

Reeves is not alone in delivering a taut, career-memorable performance—Forest Whitaker, as Ludlow’s careerist boss, is the most physical and animated we’ve seen in years. Hugh Laurie and Jay Mohr contribute in supporting roles that character actors love to describe as “selfless.” Chris Evans spars nicely with Reeves as Ludlow’s eventual partner, without ever coming off like a scene-stealer. Cedric the Entertainer and Naomie Harris play completely against type, and other Ayer veterans like Terry Crews inhabit Ayer’s scenes like real people.

The screenplay itself is tight, not too cute, not too obscure, not too intent on trying to prove itself smart (like, say, Fractured); it delivers just enough surprises to keep things moving along, and just enough zingers to keep you nervously chuckling while you cringe. The action sequences are equally tight and never drawn out, and you always feel that things more or less “make sense.” The cinematography is sharp, the editing crisp, and Ayer always seems to be making the right choices about what to show us, and when… and he trusts the audience’s intelligence enough not to raise red flags every time a relevant clue wanders through the frame.

But what a dark, dark film this is… right from the opening sequence in which Ludlow takes one for the team, and then takes down the other team. When Captain Jack Wander shows up to survey the damage, he declares, “You went toe to toe with evil and you won… this is lovely.” Yes, this is a film that finds a certain loveliness in the battle between evil and less evil. It’s a movie that’s pretty sure nobody really cares about the truth… and when an argument arises between “good can come from bad” and “bad breeds more bad,” the latter can’t help but win. You might think of the film as A Few Bad Men.

Even when it seems that Ayer’s imagery is telling us that an innocent man’s death will serve as a turning point—that this country can still somehow right itself—we’re still left with an abiding conviction at film’s end that one character’s assessment is ultimately accurate: “You hate me, but you need me.”

Sadly, I think Ayer and Ellroy are mostly right.

But I don’t think you’ll hate this movie. No, if either cop movies or Keanu Reeves are your thing, you’ll probably even love it.

Still, I’m not sure you need this kind of dark vision of America, either. Surely someone out there is protecting and serving without being dirty. Surely.

Street Kings is rated R for “strong violence and pervasive language.” The language is not out of line for a film of this type. But I have mentioned, I think, that the film is rather dark. The violence is definitely of R dimensions, but not gratuitous or excessive.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Greg attended a press screening of Street Kings.