Monotoned, stone-faced Keanu is too lightweight for 'Street' role

Opening with a hail of gunfire in an Asian sex shop and then another in thwarting a convenience store robbery, "Street Kings" isn't over until after numerous gun melees have taken place.

This is the perfect movie for those who like police thrillers. In fact, it is as pure an example of the genre as you're likely to find. It has tough guys. Tough talk. It takes place in a concrete jungle so filled with cynical corruption that everyone in Los Angeles seems to be on the take. In the old days, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson would have played the tough cop suspected of killing one of his own.

Today, Keanu Reeves has the part. Keanu Reeves? True, he's committed, presumably for life, to the monotoned, stone-faced nonexpression that could serve such a character well. He is aging, some, but he's much too boyish and lightweight for the part. We have to admit, though, that he gives it a game try. He never wavers in his expression, and he has a deep, tough voice that is relentlessly two octaves below his normal voice.

"Street Kings" has a lot of firepower to offset the distraction of its inappropriate leading man.

Reeves, who dates back to playing either Bill or Ted (we forget which) on an excellent adventure, is now bent on action. In the bloodiest scene, he breaks up a convenience store robbery and whacks all the suspects. He scatters guns around to make it look as if he met resistance. Immediately we know he's one of those cops who will go to any extreme to push across what he thinks is justice. "Who else is going to hold back the animals?" the movie asks.

He's backed up by his equally crooked boss, Captain Wander, played in an exaggerated "method" manner by Forest Whitaker, who seems to have gotten bolder since winning the Oscar for the over-the-top bit as Idi Amin. The captain approves of Reeves' character's crooked ways as long as it gets the arrests and convictions that could propel him toward becoming chief.

When it is learned that internal affairs is sniffing around and Reeves' former partner (Terry Crews) has been "talking," the informant ends up dead. Everyone thinks Reeves did it. Suddenly, he wants to prove his innocence. The ensuing investigation gets convoluted, including DNA tests that seem to involve everyone in Los Angeles.

The respected crime writer James Ellroy ("L.A. Confidental") created the original story, which, as seen here, owes a great deal to all the cop corruption movies of the past, such as "Serpico" and "Prince of the City." The director, David Ayer, is largely repeating his script for "Training Day," which, identically, dealt with a corrupt veteran and idealistic sidekick. Here, the sidekick is played by Chris Evans.

Naomie Harris is greatly committed to her grief as the widow of the informant - clearly taking the movie more seriously than some. Cedric the Entertainer is surprisingly threatening as a drug dealer named Scribble. Jay Mohr is a sergeant in a phony moustache, and Martha Higareda is the cliched feisty girlfriend. Common and The Game are the requisite rappers-turned-villains.

There's more hot hair than believable plotting, but police thrillers thrive on gunfire, not talk. As for Reeves, he never smiles, and he persistently looks displeased. This may meet the toughness test. Just to be sure, he whacks suspects over the head with a telephone book. Now, that's tuff.

Somewhere in Los Angeles, there might be a policeman helping an old lady cross the street. You won't find him in this movie.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347 mal.vincent@pilotonline.com