Street Kings (15) **** - Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Naomie Harris and Hugh Laurie.
AFTER the disaster that was the Black Dahlia, Street Kings is far more in the LA Confidential league as eminent American crime writer James Ellroy gets some better treatment as he co-authors the script for a satisfying movie.
We are on familiar Ellroy territory here as the film explores his favourite themes of police corruption and high sleaze in the Los Angeles underworld.
To be honest it's not really in the same league as the adaptation of his LA Confidential tome but director David Ayer has a decent stab.
After he is implicated in the gunning down of a fellow office, tarnished LA cop Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) finds himself tangled between the protection of a close-knit squad and a growing feeling he may not quite be on the side of the good guys.
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And in Ellroy's work it's sometimes hard to see who the good guys really are.
There are many comparisons with the masterpiece that was LA Confidential with a similar plot and characters, so devotees may find the old wine in new bottles a frustrating experience.
That said Ayer, who wrote the script for the often brilliant but ultimately disappointing Training Day, does more than enough to elevate this above the dross.
And there are excellent turns from the inimitable Forest Whitaker and Hugh Laurie as an internal affairs scumbag.
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