'Righteous Kill' review

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in "Righteous Kill" (Credit: Overture)

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Officers "Turk" (Robert De Niro) and "Rooster" (Al Pacino) know that someone's been offing suspected criminals around New York City, and others (John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg) in the NYPD think the killer is a cop. The thing is, throughout the film we see video footage of Turk confessing to the murders, and he acts very suspiciously whenever anyone talks about suspecting cops, so either "Righteous Kill" gives away the ending at the beginning or there's a silly twist waiting for us down the road. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson co-stars as a drug dealer, with Carla Gugino as an officer sleeping with Turk.

Big question: Can these two legendary actors, who haven't worked together since 1995's "Heat" and rarely make good movies anymore, deliver a better cop drama than Pacino's last collaboration with director Jon Avnet, the awful "88 Minutes"?

Skip it: This generic, style-free shambles goes through the motions so blankly that it doesn't realize its motions turn police procedure into a war against urgency and common sense.  Pacino and De Niro look totally spent, and watching "Righteous Kill" will likewise make a long, tired day feel even more endless.

Catch it: For a brief glimpse at a killer/victim nicknamed Rambo the Skateboard Pimp. Look for this to also be the title of Sylvester Stallone-produced movie spinoffs about the classic action hero's punky kid brother.

Bottom line: "Heat"?! "Righteous Kill" is cold as ice and dreary as hell. But it does allow these two another chance to appear together: on a list of the year's 20 worst movies.

Bonus: Rooster scoffs at the notion of retirement and refers to it as "death with benefits." At last, a reason why these actors think it's worse to quit than to keep working when your heart's not in it!

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