Cinewise Throwback - Street Kings (2008)

Continuing our oddly-themed Kurt Wimmer week, here’s what we once wrote about Street Kings (2008)…


Street Kings is a formulaic Los Angeles crime drama, but it’s at least an interesting formulaic Los Angeles crime drama. True to its James Ellroy roots, it offers up a stoic, hard-nosed detective (affably played by Keanu Reeves) looking to clean up his mess and his conscience in a corrupt police force where the winnings more often than not fall in the laps of the men at the top. And true to David Ayer’s directorial vision (the writer behind 2005's Harsh Times and 2001's Training Day), the L.A. playground that occupies these men is dark, gritty and explosive. So what if you see the ending coming by the 17th minute? There’s still plenty here to enjoy.

Cinewise Throwback - Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

We're big advocates of writers here at Cinewise, of the screenplays behind the films we all love, and the scribes who rarely get the credit/respect they deserve for their part in bringing these works to life.  So with screenwriter Kurt Wimmer's Salt spicing up the blockbuster buffet this summer, we thought it would be nice to take some time to look back at some of his previous work, starting with last year's Law Abiding Citizen.  Here's what we said then...

Law Abiding Citizen isn’t the maverick “make ya think” flick it pretends to be, but it at least aims to be, which is more than you can say for most Hollywood thrillers. Gritty, violent and by the books, it’s an action-thriller that entertains via doctrine – a few modern cowboys butting heads in a modern, Saw-crossed moral frontier.

Salt (2010)

In Salt, Angelina Jolie plays a character once written for Tom Cruise. If you’ve read anything about the movie over the course of its multi-month media blitz, you’ve probably read that. Primarily this tidbit is used for publicity. But to ignore the impact this sex-swap had on the film itself is to miss the importance of Salt as a potential launch pad for a new breed of action heroines.


As a thriller, director Philip Noyce’s film is a speedy, sturdy jaunt through twisty turns and heart-pounding action – the kind of film that hits you with a far-fetched concept anchored by a “did she/didn’t she” mystery, but rarely slows down long enough for you to ponder the ridiculousness of the plot, or the holes that might be found within its core question. In other words, it’s of the same breed as Enemy of the State (1998) and similar political-minded summer blockbusters, all grouped together by one common theme – success.