Best Keanu: “All you company men, you hate me, but you need me.”

There’s a scene in John Wick: Chapter 4 when The Tracker, played by Shamier Anderson, tries to make a deal with the Marquis. He cites a figure, then adds, “plus a matching contribution to my 401K.”

It gets a laugh, of course, not in small part because it’s a ridiculous reference to the real world — where those of us in the audience actually live. It would seem nonsensical in John Wick world, the fantasy that exists only inside those films.

That well-constructed fantasy, deviating enough from reality that you know it’s not real, and obscure enough on the details that the filmmakers can switch it up as they see fit with each installment, is what makes the illogical elements of John Wick perfectly acceptable. There’s no problem suspending disbelief in that fantasy world we can only ever examine from the outside.

Not so with Street Kings, which exists as a movie fiction but is set in the real world. It’s a well-constructed, well-meaning, and earnest movie with a plot that goes just a bit too far to make it believable. Even if you choose to suspend disbelief for the entirety of Street Kings‘ 109 minutes — which is what’s required of this movie — it’s not wholly enjoyable to do so.

That is not to say I disliked Street Kings. It’s an interesting little film, but the interesting part lies in its extraordinary cast more than anything else. Everything about this movie ticks the boxes of a Perfectly Fine Film, but its stars are what make it worth watching until the end.

Indeed, if I’d had any idea who was in this movie besides Keanu Reeves, I would have watched it much sooner — like maybe a year ago. I knew Common was in this movie, but had assumed he played a bigger role (he’s in one climatic scene and no others). Instead, it’s a roster of immensely likable actors who you want to watch onscreen, even if their characters are unlikeable — dirty and even dirtier cops.

Hugh Laurie is in this movie. Hugh Laurie! He pops up unexpectedly — if you go into this movie cold, like I did — when Keanu’s character is getting emergency room care. Laurie pokes his head and then body out from behind a hospital curtain, and your mood is immediately lifted. Because, it’s House! How cool is this! Of course, he’s not House — he’s a less-than-dirty cop investigating the very dirty cops. But the scenes that Keanu and Laurie shared were fun to watch, as the actors seemed to match intensity and energy levels.

But Hugh Laurie is just the beginning. Forest Whitaker is the other lead, and Terry Crews has a short but crucial arc at the beginning. Midway through, another pleasant surprise — Cedric the Entertainer. Along the way, we get several other notable faces: Jay Mohr, Chris Evans, and, yes, Common.

As with many movies of this era, it lost a few points in my mind as soon as the female characters were introduced. They are confined to the narrow, stereotypical roles of girlfriend and wife. I would rather watch a movie with no women than a movie with women restricted to scenes where they cry and nurse their injured men, or mourn their deceased spouse. It’s boring, tired, and annoying.

There are hints Street Kings is trying to make a point about police corruption. After the death of his former partner, Keanu’s character Tom Ludlow is confined to desk duty, taking citizen complaints about police misconduct. There are anecdotal stories of beatings and theft, all adding to the picture of a deeply corrupt police system.

Despite a plot that strains credulity, the actors are all deeply believable in their respective roles. Even Common, who I can’t ever imagine as a bad, bad guy — among the baddest in this film’s hierarchy of progressively worse dirty cops — somehow fits. Keanu falls nicely in his role as gun-wielding sort-of bad guy who eventually finds out he’s not the most extreme of the bunch, and is really just a pawn in their game.

Next time, though — just a token chick with a badge. At least one, please.

April 2023