I n his later years, Charlie Chaplin made a film called Limelight that belatedly teamed him up with Buster Keaton. It bowed out with a poignant musical number in which the two old rivals took to the stage, stoking the embers of past glories and stirring memories of the way they were. I was reminded of this scene while watching Righteous Kill , a leaden police procedural thriller that's notable only for the fact that it stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino - two titans of the American Method school, together at last. They deserved a better showcase than this.
Thirty odd years later and Robert De Niro has finally taken those words to heed in Righteous Kill, playing a crooked cop dishing out street justice to evil-doers alongside fellow crusader Al Pacino in a match-up that's had fanboys salivating since news of the movie's existence. Sadly, the rain Bickle predicted turned out to be more of a light drizzle, a damp shower - certainly not the thunderstorm that this long-awaited pairing of cinematic heavyweights deserved. It didn't take a weatherman to see this cold front coming. De Niro and Pacino have both been coasting for years; the former moving awkwardly and unconvincingly into comedy of late; the latter cruising into grandstanding self-parody; both men's gaze has slowly shifted from critical acclaim to commercial reward. Perhaps they can't be blamed: they're two legendary actors in their twilight years who seem happy to rest on their laurels and count their money.
Partners and veteran NYPD detectives Robert De Niro and Al Pacino try to sort out the strange clues left behind at murder scenes, which point them toward a serial murderer targeting criminals who have slipped through the judicial system. Directed by Jon Avnet. A man lies bare-chested in bed and a woman lies next to him we see her bare back. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage.