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See the original image at latimes.com —

'Righteous Kill' Is Not The Sum of Its De Niro/Pacino Parts

latimes.com — It seems an imposition on somebody's part to ask Robert De Niro and Al Pacino to use their iconic power to prop up and inflate "Righteous Kill," a tricked-up and often turgid police thriller. At least these two aging virtuosi of the Method don't altogether submit to the temptation of mailing in their performances.

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  • PolishLogic, on 09/12/2008, -0/+31Maybe they'll actually have a decent script and a decent director if they ever decide to buddy-up again.

    If they're going to put them in a plotline that's been done, done, and done again, they might as well just set them as mob guys.
    • BoonTobias, on 09/13/2008, -15/+5they're great comedy actors, meet the parents and scent of a woman showed us that, i doubt anyone would take them seriously as mob guys
      • Speed, on 09/13/2008, -1/+6Heat. Scarface.
      • hatdrop, on 09/13/2008, -0/+9are you 12 boon?
      • LedZepAddict, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3/s

        rite?
      • decyx, on 09/13/2008, -1/+4I'd also add Goodfellas, Casino, Carlito's Way, Once Upon a Time in America, and the entire Godfather series.
      • decyx, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3Those don't prove that they can be taken seriously in mobster roles?
      • LiberalKid, on 09/13/2008, -2/+1Don't forget the Departed... I think what the comedic roles showed is that both of them have a great range as actors...
      • decyx, on 09/13/2008, -0/+5@LiberalKid
        Neither Pacino nor De Niro were in The Departed.
      • mikebb79, on 09/13/2008, -0/+6I hope you were being sarcastic Boon. Otherwise, that is the most ill-informed comment I have heard in the history of mankind.
      • mikebb79, on 09/13/2008, -0/+2@LiberalKid http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/
    • TwwIX, on 09/13/2008, -6/+1Umm,Godfather!? Dumbass!
    • alby13, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1seriously. they should have set them as mob guys and made them duel like in heat.
  • thegamingguy, on 09/12/2008, -0/+6Title is appropriate
  • alexander13, on 09/12/2008, -7/+2maybe the title is a misnomer. Are these 2 guys still believable as bad ass killer cops at their age?
    • NecroSexy, on 09/13/2008, -0/+2This concept of "believability" has nothing to do with great acting. When an actor or actress moves a spectator, this sublime effect transcends the self-consciousness that supposedly determines the sincerity of the performance.
  • Pandemicz, on 09/13/2008, -15/+1There needs to be a remake of The Godfather while these two are still around.
    • bossm4n, on 09/13/2008, -1/+12No, no they don't. That part has been played and the movie made. That would be an epic failure. Both of these guys are just coasting through the twilight of their careers, just phoning it in and cashing checks. I can't blame them, but I don't have to like it either.
    • KillerLettuce, on 09/13/2008, -1/+17Why would you re-make a movie using the same actors? That doesn't even make sense.
      • Pandemicz, on 09/13/2008, -3/+1My idea is genius. Robert De Niro was the young Vito and with the remake he will be the Marlon Brando of Vito Corleone.
      • Blandyman, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3Except your idea is horrible.
    • santaliqueur, on 09/13/2008, -1/+1Might want to use the actual actors, since De Niro wasn't even in the first Godfather.

      By the way, your idea of remaking the Gotfather...it sucks.
      • Pandemicz, on 09/13/2008, -4/+1Why does my idea suck?
      • LiberalKid, on 09/13/2008, -1/+1Because the Godfather is near perfection, you don't ***** with that. Its like you won't see any filmmaker even coming near Citizen Kane, because they don't want to even try to make something as good.
      • Blandyman, on 09/13/2008, -1/+2Remakes are terrible. Being involved in film, it's completely dissatisfying when working with people who want to remake stuff. Or when they say "we should do that thing they did in that movie!"

        It's not fun or cool. It just makes you look *****.
    • decyx, on 09/13/2008, -1/+2You can't be serious.
  • TheGreatBelow, on 09/13/2008, -0/+8That sucks.
  • Spankus, on 09/13/2008, -7/+2sounds like a cold cup of weaksauce
  • BoonTobias, on 09/13/2008, -4/+2i like part where the movie is not the sum of its de niro/pacino parts
  • PosedMagnet, on 09/13/2008, -2/+10Nostalgia is a moneymaker in Hollywood.

    I knew the movie would suck before it even came out, are you honestly that surprised?

    We live in a time where remakes reign supreme and A-list actors are paired up together in ***** movies just to turn a profit.
    • decyx, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1Just hearing the names Jon Avnet and 50 Cent killed all of my anticipation for this film.
      • arjie, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1So it _was_ 50 Cent! No wonder I felt a deep sense of satisfaction watching how he ended up.
  • mrshare, on 09/13/2008, -0/+15I knew this movie was gonna be ass when they used a Stones song in the trailer, to try to make us think it was a Scorsese picture.
  • granolajoe, on 09/13/2008, -0/+6A "Heat" "Righteous Kill" will not be. 13 years after their successful partnership is a bit late.
  • Fogdelune, on 09/13/2008, -1/+2The acting was great. I would recommend waiting for Netflix on this one. It was decent, but the plot wouldn't have been carried at all without the outstanding cast.
    • lukas88, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3I wish I had seen the version you saw. The acting was awful, made even worse by the fact that it was coming out of two traditionally great actors.
  • socoolisme, on 09/13/2008, -0/+4I thought it was gonna be heat 2.
    • eze123, on 09/22/2008, -0/+1Yeah i was thinking the exact same thing. Where were all the assault rifles / urban firefights at?
  • MidnightRIder77, on 09/13/2008, -0/+11What ever happened to the good old days when good actors would only act in films with good scripts and directors?

    I respect very few actors in Hollywood now because of ***** like this, look at Kevin Spacey. One of the best jobs acting I've ever seen in in American Beauty, and now he's in ***** like Superman Returns.
    • hatdrop, on 09/13/2008, -0/+7Kevin Spacey as Lex would have been great had the movie not sucked =/
    • LiberalKid, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3That's the problem Kevin Spacey shouldn't be in ***** like that in the first place...
  • lukas88, on 09/13/2008, -1/+14I saw it yesterday and it was horrible. I knew right from the opening credits that the movie would have no substance. It had De Niro and Pacino in with their classic (read: cliche) bad attitude expressions shooting at a shooting range to lame music and cut away shots of De Niro acting like an ass at a little league softball game and Pacino playing chess with 5 other people at the same time. Absolutely devoid of any art or subtlety. And the ending is just baffling, but not in a good way, in a "how did they think this would actually be a good way to end a movie" way.

    That and anyone with an IQ of 70+ can figure out the twist about 5 minutes into it.

    Pacino has made enough bad movies lately that it is getting harder and harder to blame it on the director each time. Now it just feels like he isn't trying but is ok with being exploited.
    • bbtweb, on 09/13/2008, -1/+2i certainly hope you aren't lumping Ocean's 13 into that mix of bad movies, because that would be dead wrong.
      • lukas88, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3I was referring more to S1m0ne, Gigli, Two for the money, 88 minutes, and this.
      • bbtweb, on 09/13/2008, -0/+2ah yes, agreed.
    • 4d669, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1Try to think of a movie that came out during the last 5 years that could have been good for Pacino or De Niro. Films are dead and the actors don't have a choice.
    • arjie, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1I saw it today, but we entered forty five minutes after the movie started. Still, I guess I should be feeling foolish at actually being surprised in the end.
  • forchilli, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1They clearly have all of the potential in the world to say the least. Come on, they could kill any role you give them. Especially together. Do something epic before they ***** croak on us like Carlin.
  • spankaccount, on 09/13/2008, -5/+2One of the lame things about this movie is that they give away the fact that Di Nero is committing the murders at the start of the film.
    • lukas88, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3I can only assume you walked out of the movie theater, which I don't blame you for.
    • plimpton777, on 09/13/2008, -2/+3One of the lame things about you is that you gave away the fact that De Niro is committing the murders BEFORE I HAD A CHANCE TO EVEN WATCH THE STUPID FRIKKIN FILM without even a requisite spoiler alert.
      • Halsfield, on 09/13/2008, -1/+3it was given away in the article also, if you have half a brain. the fault is with the moviemakers, not spankaccount
      • decyx, on 09/13/2008, -0/+5Don't worry. He didn't spoil the film for you. That's not even the twist anyway.
  • heavystone, on 09/13/2008, -1/+5The best review about the movie you can see here: http://spill.com/Movie-Reviews/MovieReview.aspx?Na ...
  • CindyMindy, on 09/13/2008, -8/+1SPOILERS:
    Why did Pacino kill all those people in the first place? Oh right, there's no real answer. The movie led me to believe he was a witty, fun guy and then, in the end, he's completely different and his character makes no ***** sense. I actually figured out the twist pretty early, but I was banking on the movie not actually delivering on it. Seriously, this plot has been done 1,000 times before. What a waste of two great actors.
    Also, was I the only one grossed out by De Niro screwing Carla Gugino? There was like nine scenes of his old-ass crawling up on her.
  • BrassMonkey08, on 09/13/2008, -0/+5They now have a commercial out for this movie that simply shows a few snapshots of these two followed by a voice saying "De Niro, Pacino - what more do you need to know" thats the moment I realized this movie was most likely a pile of dog *****.
    • mousky, on 09/13/2008, -1/+1I've never been of the school of thought that having De Niro and Pacino in the same movie is a good thing.
  • Igor1080, on 09/13/2008, -0/+12The writer of the article used a thesaurus way too many times to write what should have been a straightforward explaination of how horribly cliche and mediocre the movie was. Words like doggerel and turgid don't go over well with the general public and are misplaced in something as simple as a movie review. Despite how smart the writer wanted to come off he ended up sounding like an intellectual snob.

    As for the movie, it was a very basic DeNiro and Pacino movie with the same motif as always, bad guys are the good guys and everyone should be scared of them because they are so tough and seasoned that they can kick anyone ass. Hardly believable, and the plot twist was a given for anyone who took a basic psychology class or even to those who watched the The Usual Suspects (the sleep question). It stretched on for so long that they could have ended the movie in half the time and it had a bad musical score, despite the awesome Rolling Stones and Neptunes song in the commercial. I wouldn't reccomend this movie to anybody looking for something with substance; cut and dry big budget film with too much filler and not enough worthwhile material.
    • IndigoMoss, on 09/13/2008, -0/+2They should just paste your review in this article instead. It's a lot better said and takes it for what it really is, without having to "sound" smart.
  • fuckingusername, on 09/13/2008, -0/+3that makes me a sad panda :(
  • xbxoxy1, on 09/13/2008, -0/+4De Niro hasn't done anything decent since '95
    • oda1, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1Please stop trying to jump on the band-wagon with statements like that.

      'City By The Sea' (02) and 'Men Of Honor' (00) were brilliant

      other honorable mentions;
      the score (01)
      15 minutes (01)
      flawless (99)
      jackie brown (98)
      ronin (97)

  • kmb1794, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1I saw this movie and it's not that great. The script is stale and mid-90s and the actors are too old for the parts they play.

    I think the fact that more money is made on new, disposable stars is lamentable, but a gimmick such as a de Niro, Pacino double fist doesn't enhance the viewing pleasure.
  • NoJobBob, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1Wow I totally didn't see this coming.
    /sarcasm
  • rowlodge, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1pretty much over saturated with these two in any kind of movie ,i almost feel there just trying to make as much money as possible before anybody notices, not that there is a script that isn't written yet that could use their skills up to their potential.
  • theturdmac, on 09/13/2008, -0/+0well you can't really expect much from this movie based on all the other legendary/cult movies they made. e.g. goodfellas, taxi driver, scarface, godfather. Come on people... get real...

    One way I see of them two making a good film together is a good script with them doing something different with their characters
    but that would be difficult due to their age and their ability to devote themselves physically to such a project.

    But I wouldn't mind seeing them two in like a scarface type of movie, where pacino still doesnt give a ***** and would just hose down rats and squealers.
    and De niro going crazy too.
    this sounds familiar... a lot like "face/off" with nicolas cage john travolta, which i thought was a disaster.
  • oda1, on 09/13/2008, -0/+0Here's the first problem with 'Righteous Kill' :
    - It was directed by the same guy who directed '88 minutes'
  • pianonotes1010, on 09/13/2008, -0/+2Doe Pacino have a speech in this movie? It's not a Pacino movie if he doesn't have a 10 minute monologue.
  • jhnsnp, on 09/13/2008, -0/+2I could do with a refreshing Alpa Chino Booty Sweat right about now.
  • mikebb79, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1Well hopefully one day the Heat video game will be made, and will kick ass.
  • UltimatrixmaN, on 09/13/2008, -0/+0I was expecting Joe Pesci to pop in at some point and was sorely disappointed.
    • theturdmac, on 09/13/2008, -0/+0lol joe pesci popping out of nowhere such as that danny glover movie...
      so random, hes only good when hes kicking ass or doing a lot of trash talking
      which includes a majority of mobster movies not your average disney or pixar movie
  • zbeast, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1It's September it's the month of suck films...
    I'm not worrying about going back to the theaters till November when the not completely dog films start
    coming out again.
  • HappyScrappy, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Pacino did a ***** job in Heat and it was still awesome.
  • rimaraf, on 09/14/2008, -0/+0An average film at best. It borrows from other cop movies and shows, but it lacks the true grit you find in shows like The Shield. There's a nice tribute to Heat at the end though. I was a little disappointed as I had high expectations.
  • foxmajik, on 09/15/2008, -0/+1M M M MONSTER KILL KILL KILL
  • momedefome, on 09/15/2008, -0/+0great actors , but they are living off their names now , they seem bored , that's sad
  • eze123, on 09/22/2008, -0/+1I'm tired of movies that use the same strategy to create a twist at the end.
  • ecompuplus, on 11/30/2008, -0/+0This movie was great. two top actors doing their superb job.
    http://shopbesthandbags.com
  •  

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