Wow, what a difference a title can make. When I first heard of the new Keanu Reeves movie The Night Watchman, I made what I thought was the reasonable assumption that he would play, uh, a night watchman at some kind of store. Sure, the title sounds a lot like the upcoming superhero movie Watchmen, but that’s one got enough stars and is based on a popular enough comic book that the two couldn’t possibly get confused.
Well now Fox Searchlight has given The Night Watchman a new name, and I’ve got to admit it’s better. Now that the movie is called Street Kings, it actually evokes what the movie is about: an urban setting (Los Angeles), crime (it’s about cops) and bad guys (Reeves is hunting the man who murdered his former partner). Who knows if the movie is badass, but it at least sounds badass.
The newly christened Street Kings comes out on April 11. Forest Whitaker co-stars as Reeves’ supervisor on the force, with Hugh Laurie of TV’s House as another cop. Rap stars Common and The Game round out the cast. Given that cast list and the gritty vibe the movie seems to be going for, Street Kings seems like a very, very good choice for a new name.
