by Karyn L. Beach

Before Righteous Kill the only time we'd seen Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro together was in a single delicous scene in Heat. And it bore the question, "If they could do that in a little five minute scene, what could they do with a whole movie?" Well, we may never know. Righteous Kill was the wrong vehicle to showcase these talents. In fact, Ridiculous Kill would be a better name.

Hot-headed Turk (Robert DeNiro) and his more level-headed partner Rooster (Al Pacino) are a pair of NYPD detectives with over 30-years each on the force. But the words retirement and pension are not in their vocabularies. Their current case is an investigation of The Poet, a serial killer who has a knack for taking out the bad guys who have escaped justice. Along with a pair of younger detectives (John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg) and with some help from Turk's lover (who loves rough sex) and fellow detective Karen (Carla Gugino), they begin to surmise that the killer, who is too good at covering his tracks, must be a cop.

Pacino and DeNiro are game. They still share that easy banter and chemistry that made that scene in Heat sizzle. So what's the problem? Only a little thing like ... the rest of the film.

Carla Gugino isn't given much to do but walk around being sexy. And for me, that got real boring, real quick. 50 Cent, billed as Curtis Jackson, has a supporting role as well. And there really isn't much can I say about his line reading, except that I'd rather see him in 'da club than on da' screen.

But what was painfully apparent as I watched the action, or lack thereof, unfold was that this simply was not a story worthy of the talent it attracted. It didn't keep my interest and the end was just preposterous. I found myself wondering what drew these actors to this substandard script. The pacing was too slow, the plot too plodding, and the twist at the end too poorly executed and a bit too implausible.

I would love to see these two team up again and see what they are capable of doing with a solid script. Yes, it was enjoyable to watch Pacino and DeNiro but that alone was not enough to make Righteous Kill an enjoyable movie experience.