Righteous Kill (2008)

Righteous Kill is the third film after The Godfather Part II (1974) and Heat (1995) where both two greatest actors Al Pacino and Robert De Niro starred together (in The Godfather Part II they never shared a scene). The film directed by John Avnet and screenplay written by Russell Gewirtz.

Two aging NYPD homicide detectives Det. Tom "Turk" Cowan (Robert De Niro) and Det. David "Rooster" Fisk (Al Pacino), who have been longtime partners, are faced with a serial killer with monicker the "Poetry Boy", who is murdering sociopathic criminals and leaving short poems with their bodies.

Tensions between the pairs of longtime partners is inevitable as they both start working with a younger, less-experienced team: Det. Perez (John Leguizamo), Det. Riley (Donnie Wahlberg), and Detective Corelli (Carla Gugino). Perez and Riley suspect Turk of being Poetry Boy. Rooster puts Turk in front of a video camera and forces him to read his journal. But finally it revealed that Rooster is the actual Poetry Boy.

Despite features two great performances from two of the greatest actor of all time, Righteous Kill has received mainly negative reviews, saying that the director (John Avnet) sacrifice mystery, suspense, and sensible editing one expects to find in a thriller movie just to keep the audience off-guard. The Times included Righteous Kill on its 100 Worst Films of 2008 list.

Righteous Kill also commercially flat, grossing total of only $78 million with $40 million domestic (US/Canada) and $38 million international.


Cast:

Al Pacino ... Detective David "Rooster" Fisk
Robert De Niro ... Detective Tom "Turk" Cowan
Carla Gugino ... Detective Karen Corelli
John Leguizamo ... Detective Perez
Donnie Wahlberg ... Detective Riley
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson ... Marcus "Spider" Smith
Brian Dennehy ... Lieutenant Hingis
Frank John Hughes ... Charles Randall
Rob Dyrdek ... Robert "Rambo" Brady