Righteous Kill

De Niro and Pacino are all the ads need to state. Thinking about other famous movie duos, actors who showed real chemistry together, it occurs that most of them have more than two common appearances. For instance Lemmon and Matthau, or Doulgas and Lancaster have several. And even for Sutherland and Gould I can find three films they worked on, although perhaps the most famous duo in recent memory, Redford and Newman, apparently only shared the bill on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. Technically De Niro and Pacino have been in three films but in Godfather II they never shared a scene together.
Enter De Niro and Pacino, ready to wow and captivate if not quite shock and awe. Naturally Righteous Kill doesn't replace Heat as the dynamic thespians' best film together but it certainly fills the bill for solid entertainment while keeping its serial killer procedural plot on level ground. The last film Jon Avnet directed, also starring Al Pacino, 88 Minutes, was a bit of a potboiler. While I'm never going to confuse Avnet with a world class director, Righteous Kill is so much better and cleaner than 88 Minutes.
Righteous Kill gets the mood and atmosphere of the NYPD correct while subtly adding character riffs that feel appropriate to the action rather than overblown histrionics. It's a good move for the male leads since they turn in performances better than they've shown for years, and the same applies to the supporting crew. You can argue up and down the merits of De Niro in Good Shepherd or Pacino in Merchant of Venice but at least Righteous Kill refrains from unwinding like a paycheck role (think Two for the Money or Hide and Seek).
Our heroes play homicide detectives who, it's revealed in the opening scene, on one previous case planted evidence to get a real raping and pillaging scumbag convicted. As we explore their relationship and their connection to fellow cops John Leguizamo, Donnie Walhberg and Carla Gugino (having a torrid affair with De Niro) it becomes apparent they are fulfilling a kind of star chamber style execution of criminals who got off too easy. But which one is really squeezing the trigger is the question. Other supporting players like 50 Cent and Brian Dennehy briefly show up to lend credence to the proceedings.
Righteous Kill has an elliptical narrative that's meant to keep you on your toes. Pacino and De Niro display the right amount of weariness to suggest they've been flashing badges for too long to care about things like ethics. There's not so much a sense of Dirty Harry as a sense of dirty cops tangled up in their own web of deceit.