L.A CONFIDENTIAL (WARNER BROTHERS) RUNNING TIME: 136 MINUTES (2 HOURS 16 MINUTES) STARRING KEVIN SPACEY, RUSSEL CROWE, GUY PEARCE AND DANNY DeVITO DIRECTED BY CURTIS HANSON L.A Confidential is a very good detective crime thriller. The film opens with Sid Hudgeons (DeVito) writing an article about a drugs dealer named Mickey Cohen (Paul Guilfoyle) in his magazine 'Hush Hush', which exposes all the latest celebrity goings on in 50's Los Angeles. Most of them are set up by DeVito and cop friend Jack Vincennes (Spacey.) While on duty, Vincennes usually works with Bud White (Crowe) a violent man who can't stand wife beaters. Finally, Spacey meets new kid on the force Ed Exley (Pearce), who wants to become a detective, but is warned by police chief Dudley Smith (Cromwell) that he hasn't got the balls for it. All these characters are introduced quickly and smoothly in the first 10 minutes of the picture. The film gets going when a mass homicide occurs at the Nite Owl cafe (where a fellow cop is killed), and all the main characters get drawn into a case that is more interesting than what first appears. The film has captured the look of 50's L.A very well. The costumes, cars and music are all there, and there is also some good set design. In fact, it's hard to fault L.A Confidential on the look of the film. It's also very hard to fault the acting. Kevin Spacey is excellent (as usual) as the grinning Detective Vincennes, and the audience easily goes along with his character. Crowe is scary as violent cop Bud, he plays the tough guy role very well. Bud also falls for girl Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger), a hooker who works for a firm where the boss makes his girls look like movie stars. Crowe manages to pull off the emotion needed for these scenes, he doesn't go through the whole film like some big thug. He shows he has feelings aswell. Guy Pearce is also excellent as 'by the book' cop Exley, his transition from being 'goody goody' to a intense, threatening cop (a non-violent Bud, basically) is good, and believable. DeVito is his usual smart-ass self, a role he will always be type-cast with. His performance is good, but it damn well should be, because he's been playing the same character for the last 15-20 years now. Basinger is also good, she's acting much better than the crap she has been in recently. She's greatly improved from Nine 1/2 Weeks also. Director Curtis Hanson, who also adapted the book and wrote the screenplay, does some neat directional tricks. Every time one of the cops remembers something important, we get a little flashback in the corner of the screen. The gunfights are all well directed, the 'talky' scenes are well done and never get boring. There are no faults with the directing and writing at all. The 'twist in the tale', when it finally arrives, seems strangely familiar, and has been done many times before. It is generally good, though there could of been a stronger twist, however. Overall, L.A Confidential is a very well made thriller, with a let down with the twist in the tale, but excellent performances, excellent directing and writing, and excellent set design. One of the best film noirs in a long time, and well worth seeing. OVERALL RATING=OUT OF REVIEW BY DAVID WILCOCK WEB SPACE PROVIDED BY GEOCITIES ©1998 David Wilcock
DAVID WILCOCK david.wilcock@btinternet.com Visit the Wilcock Movie Page! http://wilcockmovie.home.ml.org -OR- http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/9061
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