Street Kings, directed by David Ayer and written by James Ellroy with Kurt Wimmer, is set for a theatrical release today in the U.S. The movie stars Keanu Reeves as Tom Ludlow, Forest Whitaker as Captain Jack Wander and Hugh Laurie as Captain James Biggs. Street Kings combines three different genres; Crime, Drama and Thriller.

The movie details the life of veteran police officer Tom Ludlow, who finds his life unbearable after his wife passes away. When evidence implicates Ludlow in the execution of a fellow officer, he begins to question everything and to suspect everybody. Ludlow becomes inclined to go against his principles and team up with a young Robbery Homicide Detective to track Washington’s killers. Ludlow’s efforts pay dividends when he manages to track the killers and murders and bring them to justice.

Movies Online.ca reports that Street Kings is a crafty exploration of corruption and redemption, which shows how one adapts to a system without conscious choice.

Acting throughout is generally favourable, most surprisingly by Reeves. He plays the stock alcoholic police officer in moral crisis quite well, mainly due to his trademark stoicism, which has been to his detriment in past films. Here it works well while integrated with his rage. He manages to command many scenes that require him to be an intimidating force, which is no easy task. Forest Whitaker on the other hand, turns in a bizarre and unconvincing performance. It’s unclear what he was going for, but he struggles in delivering slang and overacts at inconvenient moments.

According to the New York Times, it is the narrative of the movie that makes its audience keep watching it all the way to the end.

It’s easy to laugh at “Street Kings” for its bigger than big emotions, its preposterously kinky narrative turns and overwrought jawing and yowling, but there’s no doubt that it also keeps you watching, really watching, all the way to the end. The film can be unintentionally, often grotesquely, funny, nowhere more so than during the grandiose finale when Mr. Whitaker — never what you might call a quiet actor to begin with — cuts crazy loose and starts popping his eyes and sputtering the spit.

Here’s the official trailer.