L.A. Confidential (1997) A film review by Steve Lipson
Justice Remains Elusive in Excellent `L.A. Confidential'
It is Los Angeles in the 1950's, and the LAPD has just launched a campaign to root out corruption in its ranks and make the police department `a force you can be proud of.' This climate provides the backdrop for Curtis Hanson's excellent new film `L.A. Confidential,' a crime drama which examines the lives of three LAPD detectives as they attempt to unravel the mystery of a massacre in the Nite Owl cafeteria. What seems in the first hour of the movie as a largely open-and-shut case soon reveals itself as just one small element of an elaborate conspiracy, but such a transformation should surprise no one familiar with the works of James Ellroy, on whose novel this movie is based.
Ellroy, an acclaimed author of crime fiction, specializes in stories with deeply-flawed protagonists, and the detectives of the LAPD prove no exception. Each sees the duty of a police officer as the promotion of justice, but each cop's understanding of the term is as complex as the characters themselves. To Lt. Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), justice entails doing consistently what is right, but his nemesis Sgt. Bud White (Russell Crowe) believes that an officer fulfills his duty as long as the ends justify the means. Some cops use the word as a cover-up for their nefarious schemes, while others--like Sgt. Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey)--have become so jaded that justice no longer has any meaning for them at all. But as the three main characters delve deeper into the Nite Owl Massacre, they soon find their cherished values tested more than they could ever imagine.
`L.A. Confidential' is thus at its heart focused on character development, yet it is to the great credit of director Curtis Hanson that his movie can be appreciated on many levels. The frequent gun battles should please any action fan, while admirers of suspenseful crime dramas will find that Hanson keeps the tension level high through effective and sinister use of music and lighting. But in a movie based on characterization, it should come as no surprise that the acting is what stands out most. In a large ensemble cast, Pearce, Crowe, and Spacey prove particularly effective in their challenging roles, which require that subtle transformations in personality be conveyed chiefly through body language and facial expressions. In the end, the three detectives have changed considerably, but they remain as morally ambiguous as ever. Many in the audience, though, will accept that justice has been served. Perhaps our own cherished beliefs remain just as conflicted as those of the LAPD.
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