Righteous Kill

Righteous Kill is a 2008 American crime thriller film directed by Jon Avnet and written by Russell Gewirtz. The film stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as New York City Police Department detectives on the hunt for a serial killer. It is the third film in which both De Niro and Pacino appear in starring roles (after The Godfather Part II and Heat), and also stars John Leguizamo, Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, and Curtis Jackson. Righteous Kill was released in the United States on September 12, 2008. The film received negative reviews from critics and grossed $78.5 million against a $60 million budget. Plot Police psychologists review video recordings of a man who goes by the nickname Turk, who states his full name is Detective David Fisk, the Poetry Boy killer. The Poetry Boy earned the moniker for his modus operandi of murdering criminals and leaving short poems with their bodies. Fisk reveals that he looks up to his partner of almost 30 years, Detective Tom Cowan, and considers him to be his role model of how a cop should be. Turk's partner is known by the nickname Rooster, and they are consistently referred to as such outside of the recordings. The story moves back to Poetry Boy's tenth victim, a pimp named Robert "Rambo" Brady. Turk and Rooster investigate the murder with the less-experienced detectives Karen Corelli, Simon Perez and Ted Riley. When they find a poem on the body, the cops link it to Poetry Boy. Turk is living with Corelli, who happens to be Perez's ex-girlfriend, causing tension across the three detectives.