Review and news hub for movies, music and video games

Show:		7.0
Picture:		8.0
Sound:		8.0
Extras:		1.0
Score:		7.0

Director(s):	David Wellington
Writer(s):	Tassie Cameron & Esta Spalding
Starring:	Natasha Henstridge • Currie Graham • Robert Forster
Genre:	Crime • Drama
Release Date:	November 10, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $22.49
Amazon:

When I heard that Would Be Kings was originally a Canadian miniseries, I was a little bit hesitant. Don’t get me wrong, I love Canada as much as the next person, but the word miniseries always makes me a little nauseous. I’m sure there are decent ones out there, but most of the miniseries I have seen are ridiculously bad.

Surprisingly, Would Be Kings is pretty good. The premise is that Patrick Lehane, a cop determined to play by the rules, wants two things in life: to put away a meth-selling mob boss and to get a promotion. The cost is high though and Patrick suddenly finds himself pushing his family away and losing his by-the-book attitude. He enlists the help of another mob boss, Frank Patero, to get his target off the streets. It works, and the drug ring is busted, but Patrick loses a cop in the aftermath of the raid. Even worse, the cop is TW, Patrick’s cousin and Jamie’s partner until a few weeks before, when Patrick transferred Jamie to Internal Affairs. Now it is Jamie’s job to investigate what got TW killed and the answers lead him further into danger, and closer to the truth than ever. But is it worth losing everyone he cares about?

The acting in Would Be Kings is phenomenal. Currie Graham, who plays Patrick, does an excellent portrayal of a cop torn between his job and his family, desperate to clean up the streets no matter what it takes. Natasha Henstridge is dignified and demanding as Patrick’s unhappy wife, although the writing weakens her character immensely by causing her to turn to Jamie for comfort and sex. Ben Bass gives his character Jamie new dimensions as he turns from his drug and alcohol addictions and cleans up his act after TW is killed. And Robert Forster steals the show as Frank Patero, mob boss and car salesman. He is the ultimate businessman, and will leave you shaking in your shoes as he calmly kills anyone who disobeys orders.

While the acting is great, some parts of the story are not. The crime drama elements are fantastic, and the suspense, especially once Jamie is on the right track, is intense and it is hard to get past the melodrama of character relationships. Patrick’s daughter seems like she is only a plot device, not through any fault of the actress, but merely because she only comes into play to demonstrate the issues between Patrick and his wife or to make Jamie more likable. Otherwise, she is never seen. Also, the fight between Patrick and his wife over pool tiles may be the lamest argument in the history of film. Just pick the freaking tile color, Patrick. It takes like two seconds.

The biggest flaw in the movie is the pacing. The first half of the movie is set up for the audience as though the main conflict is going to be the drug bust. However, that conflict is resolved after approximately 40 minutes, leaving the question of what the rest of the movie is about. After a long, drawn out sequence of events, it is understood that the first part is meant to demonstrate the bigger story arc, Patrick’s downward spiral and loss of integrity. This causes the remainder of the film to feel as though it is dragging on forever, especially in the middle. Overall, though, Would Be Kings is a decent movie and I would recommend renting it, at least until it hits the $5 bin at Wal-Mart.

DVD Bonus Features

There are no special features on this disc, unless you consider the fact that half the scenes from the trailer didn’t make the final cut. Watch that if you want to see some outtakes.