“Street Kings” a Dirty Harry for a New Generation

Published April 14th, 2008

When I saw the title “Street Kings” I figured either it was a movie about car racing or gangs.

Turns out I was right on both counts in an indirect way.

Keanu Reeves tears a page out of “Dirty Harry” in creating Tom Ludlow, a veteran Los Angeles cop who has slid into alcoholism, despair and unchecked anger.

Ludlow would have been bounced from LAPD long ago but for Capt. Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker), his chief apologist and protector.

Capt. Wander values Ludlow as a secret weapon. When all else fails, he unleashes Ludlow on the bad guys. We see Tom in action blowing away a gang of sadistic Korean thugs who have kidnapped twin girls for nefarious purposes.

Like Dirty Harry, Tom is judge, jury and executioner.

Also like Dirty Harry, Tom’s methods are called to question by the Chief and Capt. James Biggs (Hugh Laurie), his internal affairs investigator.

Biggs has Ludlow’s number, but there is more to the situation than meets the eye in a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer from an original story by James Ellroy.

“Street Kings” is fast-paced and suspenseful, with the requisite car chases and crashes. It is ultra-violent and nasty, with Forest Whitaker reviving his Idi Amin dark side. I guessed the outcome early and you probably will too, but that’s how it is with dirty cop flicks.

Two stars

“Under the Same Moon” is a heartwarming Mexican import first shown at Miami International Film Festival. I am pleased to hear reports that it is packing them in locally, as it as wholesome and uplifting as “Street Kings” is cynical and rotten.

Mexican telenova star Kate del Castillo stars as Rosario, a Mexican single parent who has immigrated illegally to Los Angeles to support her son Carlos (Adrian Alonso) and her mother back in Mexico.

Carlos misses his mother intensely, and when his grandmother unexpectedly dies, in desperation he decides to get himself to Los Angeles by hook or crook.

Adrian Alonzo is an enormously appealing and intelligent young actor and he interacts beautifully with Eugenio Derbez, a veteran Mexican comedic actor, who plays Carlito’s reluctant traveling companion and protector, Enrique.

“Under the Same Moon” is written by Liagiah Villalobos and directed by Patricia Riggen. It’s based on the very real issue of at least 4 million Latino women who have left at least one child home to work in the USA.

“We worked for five years together on the script,” said Riggin in Miami Beach. “Since then the problem has only gotten worse. Although the film is Mexican, a mother-son relationship is universal.”

As for little Adrian Alonzo, watch out.

“I plan to keep on acting and move into writing and directing,” he said through an interpreter. “I want to be Steven Spielberg.”

Three and a half stars.

“Flawless” is not.

Demi Moore came to Miami International Film Festival to promote it, but despite Michael Caine as co-star, this diamond heist caper is a bit of a disappointment.

The plot is supposedly based on a real incident, but as it unfolds under the direction of Michael Radford it seems highly improbable.

Moore is Laura Quinn, an American in mid-1960s London trying to climb the corporate ladder at London Diamond Corporation. Caine is Hobbs, a lowly janitor.

When Quinn is passed over one more time, she falls for Hobbs’ surefire scheme to steal diamonds from the company’s vault. Unbeknownst to Quinn, Hobbs has a lot more in mind.

“Flawless” is not terrible, just so-so, with Moore affecting a pointless British accent and Caine doing his clever Cockney thing. The film is at Sunrise Cinemas at Deerfield Mall.

Two stars