Street Kings' can only imitate the past
MOVIE REVIEW
by TIMOTHY CHIPP Reporter

On the streets of Los Angeles, who is the bigger, badder monster: the criminal or the cop?

My mother always told me that there is nothing worse than a corrupt policeman, but "Street Kings" tries to change my mind.

I knew what to expect when I walked into the theater: a story about police corruption in the City of Angels with action, guns, alcohol, double-crossing and murder.

The trouble is, I saw a better version of this story in 2001's "Training Day."

Keanu Reeves plays the constantly drunk Detective Tom Ludlow, who bends the rules to get the results his corrupt captain, Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker) likes to see.

Is anyone else reminded of Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke?

Ludlow becomes the hero after locating missing twins in Koreatown but comes under the suspicion of Internal Affairs Capt. James Biggs, played by Hugh Laurie (TV's "House").

When Ludlow's former partner - and Biggs' informant on Ludlow's past - is killed in an apparent convenience store robbery where Ludlow is present, Wander steps in to cover up the details and allow Ludlow to walk free, with only a transfer to a desk job.

But the falsified conclusion Wander creates does not satisfy the vengeful Ludlow, and he sets out on his own investigation into his former partner's murder.

The results leave him changed forever, and the audience gets a chance to see what was inevitable from the beginning of the movie, when the only unanswered questions were who would live and who would die.

There are a lot of guns in this movie, and each one gets fired multiple times, as bullet holes signify success in Hollywood. But the story is a poor-man's version of "Training Day" and the good-guy/bad-guy cop stories that created the genre.

And there are sequences that attempt to explain the way things are, focusing primarily on Ludlow, his alcohol use and the reason for his destructive nature.

The movie has substance in its development of an obvious plot. With twists and turns that lead to the expected outcome, the film offers a variance on the stereotype, however miniscule.

Reeves can't hold a torch to Hawke in any movie or role he does, and it is hard to take anything the guy does seriously. And Whitaker is no Denzel, though he's not horrible, eith e r.

The supporting cast doesn't help. With the exception of Mexican newcomer Martha Higareda as Ludlow's girlfriend, Grace, the talent isn't special.

Comedians Jay Mohr and Cedric the Entertainer drop the humor for serious roles and should think twice about doing it again.

Chris Evans plays Detective Paul Diskant, Ludlow's helper in solving the murder case, and isn't a problem, but the "Fantastic Four" actor is hard to believe as a cop.

And when it's all said and done, the movie ends with a confrontation between master and pupil, with a final nod to the "Training Day" plot.

And it's in the aftermath that the real truth - that the corrupt can be good and the good can bend the rules - comes shining through.

After all, as Ludlow says, "We are the police; we can do anything we want."

Hey, wait. Didn't Denzel say that in "Training Day"?