jasontheterrible They hated the way the main character, played by Reeves, was so violent. The movie also portrayed the cops in LA as racist. The truth is, blue collar guys have always jumped on each other for anything and everything; race, gender, gay, straight, Irish, ugly, dumb, or whatever. It was always a bonding ritual, and no one cared. But writers have never worked in the real world, and they do not know how real men in just about every blue-collar job talk to each other. Every ethnicity does it as well. This is by far the best Keanu Reeves film I have ever seen. It was super exciting, visceral, and realistic. The ending is a big surprise and the best part of the film, though I found it all entertaining after the beginning. The beginning was off-putting just because we never get to see the real, gritty tension that exists in some cities, especially big cities. No one makes Serpico anymore, or The French Connection type films. When I first saw it in the theaters I was pretty taken by it, but the reviews were so awful I figured I was mistaken. Now I realize I have nothing in common with those puddles of poo and I no longer give a crap what the critics think.

blackmamba99971 Every once in a awhile there comes a movie that delves into the world of police corruption. Since Serpico the idea that police who dip their hands into the cookie jar seems almost unrealistic until Keanu Reeves came to being as a cop whose wife died mercilessly at the hands of criminals. Disillusioned he becomes an enforcer for his superior to rid the streets of rival gangs or provides hits on other political bodies who might turn, and divulge sensitive material to higher powers if they feel threatened. Knowing how much his world has turned upside down Jack (Reeves) tries to reconcile with a guilt he cannot ignore any longer.Yet the hierarchy within his department finds that the risk of his turning on his own is too great, and decides to eliminate jack before he finds who was responsible for killing his ex-partner Washington. On the hunt with another head strong detective Diskant (Chris Evans) they start to unravel the mystery as to who runs the big show behind the curtains. Jack in his disbelief finds out that his superior (Forrest Whitaker) is the main target, and must put an end to the escalating nightmare.Since Serpico I found this to be a tight, and daunting tale of police corruption. Emotions run rampant in this high octane thriller as Reeves bounces from one moment of despair to another. There is never any rest as far as Jack goes seeing that he could be implicated for crimes not on the books. A great twist, and often moving around the compass of LA it was amazing he was able to keep his sanity through out. With all of the evidence pointing his way to put him behind bars for life he finally had enough of the tainted badge he was working with. The struggles to keep from breaking down must have been enormous.Wonderful story along with some great characters to add in the mix such as Hugh Laurie who more or less helped Jack alleviate some of the pressure when jack put an end to the terrorizing plot by putting a slug into his captain's chest. It is amazing that today's police can dip their hands into the jar when it comes down to survival. Pay is not what it used to be, and with druggies, and their sellers making or raking in millions a month who would miss it? The temptation is too great to just say no. With a pile of money four feet high with a few bricks of cash missing would be counted as nothing more than a mistake.I say when a bust goes down that can collect such a haul I say let the investigative police officers involved keep the money, to distribute among the other policemen in their detachment. They risk their lives all of the time. It would prove a hell of a lot better than listening to the news reports about how some police stole or acquiesced from the holding vaults. Highly recommended for viewers of this genre.

al_wilson2 I'm sort of a Reeves fan. I know, he's not the greatest actor, but I still tend to enjoy his movies. Somehow, I had never heard of this movie. I just caught a few minutes of it over the antenna, and decided to find the movie online. It blew me away. It had an amazing cast and every one of them put in a top notch performance. The story was fast paced with some twists and had an excellent showdown at the end. Great action, excellent acting, and a good storyline sets up a great movie experience.If you enjoyed Reeves in John Wick, then you will enjoy this movie also. Go back and find it. It's one of the best cop movies that I have seen in years.In a nutshell, the best way to describe this movie might be John Wick meets L.A. Confidential in modern times.

Leftbanker If you disagree with my title summary I defy you to list better movies in this genre from the past decade. If you're looking for watchable action movies these days you have to look pretty hard. I could count on one hand how many decent cop thrillers I've seen lately. Street Kings, even with its flaws, is a solid piece of crime drama with some iconic action scenes.Screenplay by James Elroy. I didn't know this before watching the movie but the quality is evident at every step along the way in the drama. The action scenes are intense and there is a lot of tension created to make those scenes resound even more deeply. I think this may be the only movie where I actually liked Keanu Reeves. I've tolerated him before but he's good in this role. Forest Whitaker is another matter. Ever since his over-the-top (read: bad) performance in The Shield series it's obvious that he's either a really bad actor or a one trick pony.The opening few scenes are enough to validate your admission ticket. There are a few other good scenes and a few bad ones but I stand behind my initial statement. I suppose that my praise for this film says a lot more about the sad state of movies these days than it does for the quality of Street Kings.