8 years into this century, we revisit the 20^th Century to do a remake/revision of Heat. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are good at what they do, which is mostly play east-coast types prone to thug-gery, regardless of which side of the law they are actually situated. Distinctly out of their element for Heat, Los Angeles is just not their natural habitat. The thief and the cop in SoCal—too funny. Pacino is the cop (Lt. Vincent Hanna). De Niro is the thief (Neil McCauley). Scripting has their personalities and core experiences likened to kindred spirits. One kills the other. In Hollywood the bad guy must not go unpunished.

For Righteous Kill, we encounter the guys together again, in a more credible eastern urban environment. They’re both cops, so that makes you feel better, right? They do save this otherwise ‘forgettable’ film. Their timing and chemistry would have been mint, save for the story. Swearing, banal sex and gloominess shadow box with our enjoyment of—the guys. Pacino is Rooster and De Niro is Turk. That’s more like it. No fancy names, no last names, just toughs with nicknames as their entire persona. And the both of ‘em are so kindred in nature they could have been brothers, raised in the same neighborhood, going to the same church. They make great partners. They are crusty, rusty and prone to jokes about their age, agility and their debatably illustrious careers. In the midst of all this self-congratulatory bravado, we must absorb their take on morality and the way it ‘really is on the streets’.

So the script isn’t the greatest. We’ve got the guys. The filmmakers would’ve been quicker on their feet had they simply rewrote the script. Because of the confessional style film ‘interview’ of De Niro’s character, interlaced with the unfolding events, we must watch the whole movie knowing the ending. The story is not what we want, which is simply our good guys after some bad guys. We watch two veteran officers trying to outsmart a serial killer. That works. We’re watching the movie to watch these guys—together. Everyone will shell out bucks to see them. The filmmakers’ mistake was to rely on that and not deliver a script worth watching. The dialogue is tired, the sex is overwrought, and please don’t telegraph the ending to me—it makes me wish I was sitting on the end seat where a quiet exit would be an option. If you aren’t going to do much work past signing these guys, then your script should at least deliver an ending everyone finds satisfying. Oh well.