L.A. Confidential **** out of four
It is an understood passion and an understood calm. Bud White walks into the home of Lynn Bracken, a prostitute "cut to look like Veronica Lake." He's one of L.A.'s finest investigating the murder of fellow cop, and one of the leads takes him to her home. It's understood that he is quiet thunder, a guy who's calm voice is more powerful than his arms. It's understood that she's supposed to be beautiful, but underneath her face is pain and scraped out lines that say her life could have been so much more. You know without having to be told. "You're the first guy who hasn't told me I look like Veronicca Lake in under a minute," she says.
"You look ten times better." He says it without thinking. Like he knows without her having to say anything. White's face doesn't turn, it doesn't blush. You see his eyes, and you believe him. It's a perfect moment in a near perfect movie.
L.A. Confidential is the best movie of the year. It is grace and poetry; a richly layered work of pure entertainment. It is a portrait of police and morality as it works it's way through characters that are so real on screen that you believe that they might have a soul. In a phrase, it is everything. It is funny, it is exciting, has enough action and adventure and mystery and grace and suspense. It is the pinnacle of a movie, a complete work, a flawless film.
It's hard to tell you about the plot, because it's about so much more than plot. Besides, there's too much to describe. Sure, it's about police and searching for corruption and who fights for the right reasons and the definition of justice. But it's also about what you feel when you look into the eyes of the characters in the film. Director Curtis Hanson has perfectly framed each character, letting you see into them, rooting for them one moment, doubting them the next. The actors work with their lines, but in this movie their most important weapon is their eyes. You can tell what each person is feeling just by looking into their eyes for one moment.
Russell Crowe plays Bud White, a muscle cop with a beef for wife beaters. His movements are fierce. When he strikes, you jump, when he's calm, you know it won't be for long. His intensity oozes out of the screen. You follow his character through the movie afraid of him, but in sympathy of him, because you know how good his heart is. He's looking for a way to solve crimes, you're just never sure how he's going to do it.
His counter is Ed Exley, played with a chisselled face by Guy Pierce. You feel for him, for his character, because of all the cops in the movie he's the one that's actually trying to do the right thing by going by the book. You know that he must face the reality of breaking the book, and you love the way he gets there.
I've seen L.A Confidential twice, immediately after it was over, I wanted to hit the rewind button and watch it again. I didn't want the theater experience to end. It's been a long time since I actually experienced a movie, feeling like I got something after I walked out. That's why I love movies; the great ones can be too rich and powerful to describe. Watch L.A. Confidential: after you leave the theater, you feel like you just watched a classic movie. That's why LA Confidential stands as the best movie of the year.
L.A. Confidential (**** out of four) Directed by Curtis Hanson. Starring Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce, Kevin Spacey, James Cromwell, and Kim Basinger.
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