Righteous Kill (2008): The De Niro & Pacino Evidence File & Trailer

⚠️ EVIDENCE FILE: RK-2008

The Investigation

Righteous Kill

De Niro • Pacino

Official Movie Trailer

"There's nothing wrong with a little shooting, as long as the right people get shot."

Extended Personnel Dossier

The Leads • Robert De Niro (Det. Tom "Turk" Cowan)
• Al Pacino (Det. David "Rooster" Fisk)
• 50 Cent (Marcus "Spider" Smith)
• Carla Gugino (Karen Corelli)

Supporting Unit • John Leguizamo (Det. Simon Perez)
• Donnie Wahlberg (Det. Ted Riley)
• Brian Dennehy (Lt. Hingis)
• Oleg Taktarov (Yevgeny Mugalat)

Behind the Lens • Director: Jon Avnet
• Writer: Russell Gewirtz
• Producer: Avi Lerner / Randall Emmett

Technical Team • Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
• Editor: Paul Hirsch
• Music: Ed Shearmur

Dossier Intelligence: Fun Facts

• A 13-Year Wait: This marked the first time De Niro and Pacino shared the screen since Michael Mann’s Heat (1995). Unlike their single diner scene in that film, they share nearly every scene in this one.
• The Script's Origin: Russell Gewirtz, the writer of Righteous Kill, also wrote the critically acclaimed Inside Man (2006).
• Real-Life Rivals: John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg played the "younger" detectives investigating the legends. Leguizamo later joked in interviews about the intimidation factor of yelling at Pacino and De Niro on set.
• Method Prep: Robert De Niro and Al Pacino spent time with actual NYPD detectives to get the "weary veteran" rapport correct.
• The 50 Cent Connection: This was one of Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's largest early roles. To prepare, he reportedly shadowed nightclub owners and low-level street hustlers in NYC.
• Box Office Draw: Despite the critical lashing, the film was a modest commercial success, grossing over $78 million—proving the "Mighty" hadn't fallen quite as far in the eyes of the paying public.

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Archive: Pre-Release 2008

This is a movie that I've been looking forward to since last year when I first heard about the project.

Now that it's weeks away, my anticipation has significantly decreased.

I'm just hoping it's not horrible and they don't embarrass themselves.

Back in April, Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times wrote a particularly scathing and unfair assessment of Pacino and De Niro's recent work.

The title of the article was "How the Mighty have Fallen."

Ouch.

Truth is a movie starring these two should have been made 10 years ago.... heck, to be completely honest 30 years ago would have been ideal...and I'm not talking about two scenes like in Michael Mann's Heat.

I'm talking about a movie where Robert De Niro and Al Pacino share significant screen time together.

There's no doubt that these two are legends. Heck, one look at my banner on this blog will tell you that I'm a big fan of their work.

But these guys are pretty old now.

Pacino is 68, De Niro is 65.

They deserve to go for the quick paycheck, they paid their dues.

It's not really fair to expect these guys to turn in physically strenuous and emotionally demanding performances.

Let's leave that kind of stuff to Christian Bale and Daniel Day Lewis.

Here's hoping they don't embarrass themselves and the flick actually ends up being at least slightly entertaining.