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Last Updated: May 1st, 2008 - 13:23:32 |
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| Forest Whitaker in 'Street Kings' |
As long as there is a contentious relationship between Black communities and the police, perhaps there is reason to consider another shoot-em-up police drama like “Street Kings,” which lurks in that underworld of rogue cops, criminals and corruption.
While it does offer some messages about the state of the “just-us” system, and is engaging from beginning to end, “Street Kings” feels mainly like a vehicle for Keanu Reeves to attain an earthly toughness and street cred, without the supernatural powers of his characters in “The Matrix” trilogy and “Constantine.” The very first scene shows him waking up and immediately grabbing his gun. He spits into the toilet. He cleans another weapon. He rolls in a shiny Dodge with big, shiny rims, all the while knocking back miniatures of vodka.
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| Common in 'Street Kings' |
The setting is Los Angeles and Reeves plays Detective Tom Ludlow, a controversial LAPD cop who has a reputation, depending on who you ask, for either being tough or reckless in the pursuit of criminals. Because the story is set in L.A., it provides Hollywood another opportunity to weigh in on the long history of racial strife and brutality that exists between the city’s police department and Blacks. As in “Crash” and “The Thin Blue Line,” Hollywood weighs in on behalf of the White police officer. Any racism on the part of the White cop, Ludlow in this case, is smoothed over as a part of his no-nonsense persona. In addition, Ludlow functions within a police department where corruption and brutality is depicted to be more commonly a practice of Black members of the force, rather than of Whites. One scene featuring residents with complaints against the LAPD is treated in a somewhat dismissive fashion.
All of this narrative is handled in a persuasive manner by director David Ayer and writers James Ellroy and Kurt Wimmer. There is an immediacy and up-close focus on Ludlow that makes us identify with him and believe that, even with his considerable flaws, he is a good man. Reeves makes good use of this vehicle and breaks out of his habit of sometimes appearing expressionless and robotic.
The real show-stealer here though is Forest Whitaker, who plays Ludlow’s boss, Captain James Biggs, an ambitious, hardened police captain who knows how to play the business of crime-fighting to his advantage. Whittaker fills the screen with Biggs’ tailored suits and big New Yawk accent. He bullies, cajoles and knows how to talk that talk. His character might remind you of Jules Winnfield, played by Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction”— decidedly warped and fascinating at the same time. Rapper Common plays a small part and, in a twist of casting, so does Cedric the Entertainer, as a character that does not elicit laughs. The casting director of “Street Kings” definitely has a sense of humor and/or purpose. The result, for me, was a reminder that I was watching a taut Hollywood version of reality—filled with scripts, sets and actors playing their parts.
This review also appeared on Tom Joyner's BlackAmericaWeb.com,/i>
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