L.A. Confidential (1997)

reviewed by
Jamie Peck


L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
RATING: ***1/2 (out of ****) 

Warner Bros. / 2:16 / 1997 / R (language, violence, sexuality) Cast: Guy Pearce; Russell Crowe; Kevin Spacey; James Cromwell; Danny DeVito; Kim Basinger; David Strathairn; Ron Rifkin Director: Curtis Hanson Screenplay: Curtis Hanson; Brian Helgeland

In the down-and-dirty "L.A. Confidential," almost nobody is without blemish. The good guys are bad, the bad guys are worse and practically everyone's actions hide a shady hidden agenda. But don't think of the film's surplus of complex facets as confusing -- rather, they make "L.A. Confidential" a smart, intriguing synergy of film noir and crime drama, where most of the recent genre pictures have solely revelled in pretentiousness. Take, for example, last year's "Mullholland Falls," which only lived up to the second half of its title.

"Confidential" chronicles the lives of three LAPD detectives in the early 1950s: haunted strongman Bud White (Russell Crowe), prissy but ambitious Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) and smooth shark Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey). White and Exley's lack of common ground -- one's a hothead, the other quite level-headed -- results in each's hatred of the other, as the former relies on the brash techniques that the departmental-climbing latter totally abhors. Meanwhile, Vincennes serves as a technical consultant on a hit true-crime show and spends his evenings schmoozing with celebrities, reporters and assorted sleazy types, people like Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito), the editor of the trashy tabloid "Hush-Hush" who never met a photo op he didn't like.

A mass murder -- apparently the result of an armed robbery -- at a local diner called the Nite Owl throws these three men into an eventual, unlikely union. Upon the discovery that a recently-dismissed cop and a rumored prostitute are two of the victims, the Nite Owl killings suddenly appear to be more than a random, run-of-the-mill crime. Leads give way to the investigation of inter-office corruption and dealings with a pimping service where the girls are surgically enhanced to look like movie stars. One of these hookers -- a comely dead ringer for Veronica Lake named Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) -- strikes up a hot-and-heavy flirtation with White and, much later on, Exley.

Conspiracy is everywhere in "L.A. Confidential" -- people scheme against and double cross each other on a regular basis -- but the film is smart enough to level out its playing field and never provide so much information that it never becomes too hard to take in; it's always mesmerizing and absorbing, frequently providing a sometimes necessary, sometimes not story summary. Even the character-defining subplots don't feel like time-filler. Those regulated to smaller roles come across with a fully-developed personality, and no one is lost in the shuffle of occurrences.

Keen period detail and dazzling cinematography heighten the experience, as does DeVito's on-again, off-again narration. I usually think that voice-overs are unnecessary, but as he riffs about how Los Angeles is like "the Garden of Eden, but there's trouble in paradise," the feel, for once, is perfect. There are flaws -- several frayed plot strands exist by the time the credits roll -- but they're all insignificant and never hamper the enjoyment of "L.A. Confidential." The colorful cast occupies the picturesque setting with much gusto, character is just as important as plot and sharp twists and turns await every development.

"L.A. Confidential" is based on the same-titled book by James Ellroy, a novel of which I have heard both things good (it's an entertaining read) and not-so-good (it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever). If the last statement is true, then that's just another reason why Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson -- who also directed -- deserve an Oscar nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. The whole package glistens with the utmost showmanship, style and verve, making "L.A. Confidential" one of the best bits of pulp fiction since "Chinatown."

© 1997 Jamie Peck E-mail: jpeck1@gl.umbc.edu Visit the Reel Deal Online: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~jpeck1/


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