Review: L.A. Confidential (1997)

L.A. Confidential is one of those movies that I've always sort of avoided. You see, it was almost unanimously praised by critics upon its release in 1997, and films that have a perfect, or almost perfect, approval rating turn me off. Not because I don't believe a film deserves such a rating; that would be silly. It's just because I usually find films that the critics love somewhat boring. This isn't always so. Sometimes, I do agree with them... But I usually don't. Anywho, why did I finally sit down to L.A. Confidential? Two words: Kevin Spacey. I've had a bit of a Spacey week this week, and I thought I'd cap it off with this. I'm very pleased that I did.

Three L.A. cops, all with very different methods of policing, work together to try and solve a muli-murder case.

L.A. Confidential is a story of corruption. The "top" cops are intent on trying to reassure the people of L.A. that the police are on their side; however, a majority of them are bent to the back teeth. Everybody has an angle, and almost anybody can be bought.

"Oh, great. You get the girl, I get the coroner."

The three officers at the centre of L.A. Confidential are fascinating characters. Jack Vincennes, played by Spacey, is an incredibly suave, fame whore. Vincennes has a job as an technical advisor for a TV show. Slightly bent, he also works with tabloid magazine editor Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito). Together, they set people up for a pay off: Vincennes gets money, and Hudgens gets pages. Bud White, Played by Russell Crowe, is a tough-guy cop, whose main target is women beaters. He has no problem with doing some damage to those (men) who have commited crimes, and often does so. He's the Police Captain's go-to guy for those who need to be taught a lesson. Ed Exley, played by Guy Pearce, has a dog-eat-dog mentality. He wants to get to the top, and he is willing to step on anybody to get there. As the only non-bent cop of the three, Exley is very straightlaced and all about justice. He became a police officer to help give justice to those that have been wronged, such as his father, who was shot dead by an unknown man several years earlier.

L.A. Confidential has a very film noir feel to it, which is great, as I am curiously fond of this genre of film. I really loved the style of the movie. Set in 1953, L.A. Confidential really has that 1950's feel to it. The clothes are beautiful and the music sets the scene perfectly. The characters even talk like I'd expect them to in the 50's. You can tell that incredible detail went into making this film look so good, and it really paid off. It is very stylish.

This movie is far more interesting than I thought it was going to be. It moves swiftly from one point to another and does not pause for thought, leaving the viewer completely interested in what's happening onscreen, from start to finish. This means that the film feels a lot shorter than its 138 minutes (WOOT!).

"Rollo Tamasi"

L.A. Confidential has an ensemble cast full of terrific actors. Spacey, Crowe, and Pearce all shine in their respective roles, and work very well together. Kim Basinger is also good in her role as Lynn Bracken, the high-class escort; however, I wouldn't have labeled her performance as Oscar worthy (Basinger won the Best Supporting Actress oscar in 1998 for her portrayal of Lynn). The rest of the cast, which includes Danny DeVito and James Cromwell, also to a fabulous job bringing their characters to life; there wasn't a bad performance in this film.

I really, really liked L.A. Confidential. Films like this make me rethink my view on critical "darlings". 9/10

Trivia: Kevin Spacey, who played Jack Vincennes in L.A. Confidential, was told to base his character loosely around Rat Pack legend, Dean Martin.