The dirty cops’ saga “Street Kings” is a crime-thriller directed by David Ayer and starring Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie and Forest Whitaker. Crime novelist James Ellroy and John Ridley wrote the screenplay. Elroy had a couple of stories turned into movies, as “”L.A. Confidential” and “The Black Dahlia,” but the recent ”Street Kings” marks the first time he’s written directly for the screen.

Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is an apparently racist and obviously alcoholic former L.A. detective, in order to respect the grand tradition of drunk, wicked cops. After the death of his beloved wife, he becomes cheerless, angry and ferociously unhappy. Ludlow, driven by both remorse and self-preservation, is pressed into action when he is framed for the murder of his former partner Washington (Terry Crews.) As he is seeking revenge for his fallen comrade, captain (Forest Whitaker) keeps his eyes on him, so as a sly internal affairs officer (Hugh Laurie) does, sensing something is not right.

“Street Kings” appears to be trying for an air of moral ambiguity, but it fails as the central character never question his situation, and the film is obviously by his side. The movie is a pale attempt to evoke the shiny action films of the early ‘90s, the high point of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as it wastes a challenging premise by filling it with clichéd dialogues and quite implausible turns of events. However, Keanu’s fans might find the movie entertaining, as he has a good performance as the self-destructive hero. The actor is currently working on the remake of the 1951 science fiction movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” in which he stars as Klaatu.