
Director: Curtis Hanson
Based on L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
Writer: Brian
Helgeland
Also starring: Kevin Spacey (Jack Vincennes), Guy Pearce (Ed
Exley), Kim Basinger (Lynn Bracken), Danny DeVito (Sid Hudgens)
James Cromwell (Capt. Dudley Smith), David Strathairn (Pierce
Patchett)
"Crowe, one of the most interesting young actors
alive, merely smolders. "L.A. Confidential" picks
up speed and intensity as these two young cops -- they utterly
loathe one other -- come to realize they're bound together
by their interest in the same enigmatic case. Increasingly
isolated from the rest of the force, they're all each other's
got." (from salon.com)
My reaction to this film is awfully
difficult to separate from my reaction to the long overdue
appearance of Russell Crowe in a splashy Stateside release
("withpostersandpreviewsandcoolactorsand
GOOD WRITING..." "Sit down, we're trying to watch
the movie..." "but but but... there he is! See?
SEE? Ain't he COOL!!!!" "Shhhh.... they're going
to throw us out of here if you don't sit down...")
but I will try.
A story rarely needs to be on screen
the way this one does. I am a sucker for self-conscious
art, for stories that refract themselves into the minutiae
of sub plots and expand into the hemisphere of their own
super-text. This one does all that. I mean really,
a movie about the hollywoodism of California ("between
the two of you, you should bring a photographer"),
the imitation of imitation
(plastic surgery to make women look like actresses who are
imitating someone else...), the subjectivity of justice
("..it'll look like justice."), the raw greed
at the bottom of it all. And right through the middle of
it, a perfect thread of dramatic character development:
three cops change course sharply mid-story and move beyond
their personal agendas. As Bud White finds strange peace
with a woman who emphatically does not need his protection,
Jack Vincennes finds himself moved by one of the innocent
pawns he manipulates daily, and Ed Exley hears the bald
truth about his unwitting role in the corruption he so despises.
The next scene looks like a simple confessional between
lovers, but in light of its placement, I see it as a glimpse
into that psychic inner child: characters confused by the
insubstantial lies they have lived by are cut loose to follow
their instincts. This is where unpredictable behavior comes
from, where characters find the motivation to break from
familiar patterns, as Bud, Lynn, Ed, Jack all do. Here commences
an energetic denouement like few films achieve.
If you haven't seen it, see it. If you have seen it and
you wondered what the big deal was about (I mean aside from
those heart-stopping performances, that marvelous period
flavor that redefines the period for kids who grew up on
Happy Days...), for me this about covers the big
deal. Besides, it uses brown well.
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