Noel-

I would have never voluntarily rented this movie but, if you've noticed, there haven't been a lot of great, or even good, movies out for rent in quite a while. So, since pickings were slim, this is what we decided to watch and review, and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Street Kings has an all-star cast including Keanu Reeves (Matrix trilogy), Forest Whitaker (Vantage Point), and a few others that I recognized. This is your basic shoot-em-up kind of movie where there are a ton of bad cops and a few good cops and one in between who does what he's told. Part of his job does include lying but it's for the good of the victims; which is what happens in the first part of this movie, where you see him as the hero when he saves the lives of two twin girls. So who's to judge when he is saving lives?

Eventually he gets in a little too deep and begins to realize that what he does and what his boss asks him to do aren't always for the good of the people, and that's where the movie takes off. I'm starting to get tired of all of the "bad" cop movies that have been coming out; it seems that the writers' strike we had back a few months ago has seriously hindered better ideas, as far as movies go.

I personally think it's time for a movie with good cops that are just as entertaining to watch. With that in mind, I give Street Kings 2 ½ paws.

Keith-

Street Kings screenplay comes via James Ellroy whose books inspired L.A. Confidential back in the 1990’s. This is a pretty violent tale of suspense and is chock-full of good action and guy scenes. I know we've been down this road before with conspiracy, good and bad cops in different departments and bureaus of law enforcement, and a cop taking out the trash, legal or not, but I still love it.

Street Kings has so many top-notch actors I can't begin to list them, and they all do a pretty good job. My only problem with this movie is that I kind of knew what was going on before a street-savvy cop figured it out; he did have quite a rough past and was drinking a lot of vodka, so that might have clouded his thinking a little. 3 paws.