Just, um, ignore whatever that is to your right.
If this theatrical trailer is any indication, Little has changed since the teaser for Righteous Kill debuted: as far as I know, Jon Avnet shot Russell Gewirtz’s formula screenplay to the letter, so, at best, you’re going to see Robert De Niro and Al Pacino bantering their way through a below-average cop procedural with a twist. At this point, I’m just hoping that the sight of the two greatest American film actors of the 1970s is enough to override everything that’s wrong with the material. I realize this is nigh on impossible, but I just can’t bring myself to completely write off what should still qualify as an event film – especially since I happen to really like Avnet as a producer. No, I didn’t see 88 Minutes. Perhaps you did. And perhaps you’ve a less forgiving opinion of Mr. Avnet at the moment.
As with the teaser, the primary appeal of Righteous Kill seems to be the inexplicably getting-hotter-by-the-year Carla Gugino – though watching the great Brian Dennehy briefly square off against the “Lennon/McCartney” duo makes me wish Avnet would’ve halted production and brought someone like Scott Frank in to rewrite the entire screenplay. Instead, I’m just hoping for something as entertaining as The Last of the Finest. That was entertaining, right?
Righteous Kill turns up September 12th courtesy of the newly formed Overture Films.