Street Kings
Directed by David Ayer
Starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Hugh Laurie
Rated R
Release date: April 11, 2008

“I’m sorry I exposed you to it, but it is. It’s ugly, but it’s necessary… Sometimes you gotta have a little dirt on you for anybody to trust you.” — Detective Alonzo Harris from Training Day

“You got to be heartless in my line of work!” — Sgt. Eldon Perry from Dark Blue

“We’re the police. We can do whatever the hell we want.” — Detective Tom Ludlow from Street Kings

Street Kings:
Los Angeles Pulp For Our Times

David Ayer has become the cinematic chronicler of the mean streets of 21st century Los Angeles. As a screenwriter and director, he has made a name for himself creating a vivid tapestry of the city’s dark underbelly. It is no accident that his second directorial feature is based on James Ellroy‘s (long in development hell) first screenplay, The Night Watchman which is based on a story written by Mr. Ellroy. James Ellroy shares screenwriting credit with Kurt Wimmer and Jamie Moss. James “Demon Dog Of American Crime Fiction” Ellroy and David Ayer are the perfect match of writer and director. I always thought that title would go to Brian De Palma and James Ellroy with The Black Dahlia, but that film never came together as well as I wanted it to, no matter how badly I wanted it. The Night Watchman is now known as Street Kings, but it is not the first time that Ayer has tackled Ellroy’s work.

Ron Shelton’s Dark Blue is based on a James Ellroy story which David Ayer wrote the screenplay for back in 2002. David Ayer understands Los Angeles — even his screenplays for lighter fare such as The Fast And The Furious and SWAT demonstrate a unique flair for Los Angeles. His screenplays for Training Day and Dark Blue, as well his directorial efforts Harsh Times and Street Kings represent a keen understanding of the trials, tribulations, prejudices, and corruption of the Los Angeles Police Department. James Ellroy and Michael Connelly are more than just crime fiction writers who deal with Los Angeles — they are the city’s anthropologists and sociologists who get to the bottom of how their city really operates. Along with David Ayer, they are excellent heirs to explore Raymond Chandler’s “mean streets.”

The best way to examine Street Kings is through its main character, Detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves). Tom Ludlow has a lot in common with Training Day‘s Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) and Dark Blue‘s Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell). Ludlow is a veteran LAPD officer who has a lot of difficulty overcoming the grief caused by the death of his wife. He is buried in his work. He is immersed within the cop culture — it is his life. After evidence implicates him in the murder of a fellow officer, he is forced to go against this very cop culture which has become his only way of life.

Ludlow is part of a special wrecking crew within the LAPD led by Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker). Ludlow is the classic loner, but while part of Wander’s special team, he breaks a number of laws. Wander’s crew could have had Alonzo Harris, Eldon Perry, and especially Christian Bale’s Jim Luther David from Harsh Times. In Harsh Times, Davis never gets his chance to shine within the department; he is never given the opportunity. Reeves’ Ludlow is a lesser version of what Davis might have been in the LAPD. Ludlow is wound up very tightly and is only eager to do Wander’s bidding, but he never realizes it is all for Wander’s gain. When Ludlow is implicated in the murder of his ex-partner, Detective Washington (Terry Crews), he has to back off. It does not help things that he and his ex-partner had a bad falling out, but the convenience store murder scene does not help things; only complicates them. For Ludlow there are plenty of harsh and bad times ahead in the film.

As Ludlow, I think Keanu Reeves is suitable for the part. He is not in the same league as Christian Bale, Denzel Washington, or Kurt Russell from the previous Ayer films, but he is able to pull off the role. Ludlow must confront what he truly values and believes in this world. He will discover that he must question his loyalties to everyone around him. As he digs deeper, he will partner with Detective Paul Diskant played by Chris Evans. This part of the film reminded me of the Denzel Washington/Ethan Hawke dynamic in Training Day. After playing Neo in the first Matrix film, Reeves has made a lot of bad acting choices. After playing Neo back to back in Matrix: Reloaded and Matrix: Revolutions, he never looked as comfortable or as relieved as he did as Julian Mercer in Something’s Gotta Give. Yes, he has a reputation of being stiff and wooden which does not always work to his advantage. There were a string of films where he was living off the Ted Logan buzz from Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure. He was wonderful when working with River Phoenix in I Love You To Death and My Own Private Idaho. He was a revelation in River’s Edge. He was having way too much fun in Point Break. Despite all the mixed reactions to his work, he seems to fit into David Ayer’s world just fine. It is not a bad fit; Reeves is fine in this pulpy and bloody film. No one will ever confuse him with Robert Ryan or Lawrence Tierney.

I think it is safe to say that Curtis Hanson’s L.A Confidential is the most successful adaptation of any of James Ellroy’s previous works. Cop with James Woods never got Ellroy right and despite Michael Rooker’s presence, Brown’s Requiem never came alive. Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia had its moments, but it never came together in the end. Street Kings, like Dark Blue before it, wants to be the next great Ellroy cinematic translation and it comes close. The film has all the trademarks we have come to expect from this genre — corrupt and cops, double crossings, lots of violence, and enough overdrive to get the audience to stay awake until the closing credits.

Speaking of corruption and the Forest Whitaker character, the film has one hurdle that it cannot get over — it lives in the shadow of the groundbreaking television series, The Shield. Granted this was written long before the show, but given Whitaker’s Captain Wander and the character he plays on The Shield, the film does not feel very original in that regard. Speaking of Forest Whitaker, he is having a great time playing the character. Perhaps trying to reclaim traces of his Oscar-winning portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland and Lt. Jon Kavanaugh from The Shield. There are performances in the film that do not work well. Hugh Laurie does an excellent job on the television series House, but as Captain James Biggs, he seems out of place. Laurie seems to be doing a wretched Gary Cole impersonation. Jay Mohr also feels wasted as one of Wander’s crew members, Sgt. Mike Clady.

Street Kings is a return to great B movie entertainment. Tom Ludlow is the classic Ayer/Ellroy protagonist trying to walk a tightrope between crooked cops and the deadly thugs that roam the streets. Ludlow, like his predecessors in Harsh Times, Training Day, and Dark Blue, is trying to figure out what is the right thing to do and where his loyalties lie. Harsh Times was Ayer’s attempt to make his Taxi Driver. Street Kings does not share the same lofty ambitions. In some ways it owes more to Bill Duke’s Deep Cover than anything else. Tom Ludlow is in a maze of corruption and betrayals. The audience suspects where this maze will lead him, but Ludlow is not as quick as the rest of us. Ludlow was never doing it for himself; he was always doing it for someone else’s gain. Street Kings is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it is highly entertaining. It is also further proof that David Ayer will have a lot more to show us in the years to come.