L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
A Curtis Hanson Film
Starring: Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects), Russell Crowe (Virtuosity), Guy Pearce (Flynn), James Cromwell (Titanic), Danny DeVito (Batman Returns), Kim Basinger (9 1/2 Weeks), and David Straithern (The Firm)
Written by Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland
Adapted from a novel by James Ellroy
Stop reading this review right now. Quickly shut down your computer, and leave to go see L.A. Confidential. Then see it again. Are you back? Good. Now we can talk.
What I have just done is send you on one of the best film-rides in the last 25 years. Welcome to Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential", a tribute to the great film noirs like Roman Polanski's "Chinatown". If possible, LAC might be even grittier than Chinatown. Hanson sets up a brutally honest, savagely entertaining ride through a convoluted plot that is so confusing it makes perfect sense, with a cast so fabulous they deserve to sweep the Oscars.
"L.A Confidential" is not the best movie of the year. It's the best 5 movies of the year. The plot revolves around two cops, Bud White and Ed Exley (the absoulutely amazing Wonders from Down Under: Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce). White is a brutal tough-guy, a man who basically punches who is bosses tell him to punch, a loyal, fiercely honest cop with a hatred for wife-beaters. Exley is the son of a heroic detective, he is a brilliant, ambitious cop with a flair. The story essentially begins when a bunch of Mexicans are brought into the station. The police take their racism into their jobs by brutally beating the suspects, in an incident found on the front-page of the paper. White and another police officer, Jack Vincennes (the incredible Spacey) are implicated in the beatings, but no police officer is willing to give corroborative testimony....but Exley. This results in Exley being promoted, and he also being the butt of everyone else's hatred.
There's one storyline. Here's another. Gossip king Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito) pays Vincennes and gives him tips on how to arrest major stars committing crimes. In exchange, Vincennes makes big arrests on the front page of Hush-Hush, Hudgeons' magazine. Vincennes is also the technical advisor on Badge of Honor, a Dragnet-like show. Vincennes therefore has to constantly worry about his image, as he is a rising star, a national celebrity in the making. Spacey plays this role to absolute perfection, his glamorous smile and flamboyance are flawless.
That's two. I told you L.A. Confidential had 5. Here's the major one, numero 3. A prominent businessman is having plastic surgery done to girls to make them look like movie stars. It turns out this businessman is a high-class pimp, with these girls as his celebrity prostitutes. All of these plots link to a murder at the Nite Owl Coffee Shop, where White's partner is killed. There are dozens of other plots, all connecting into one hell of a convoluted mess, which shouldn't work.
Not only does this movie work, it is a mindbending spell of a film. The line between good and evil is blurred beyond repair. Hanson places his story in a dirty, wild atmosphere of pure crime. James Cromwell, as both White's and Exley's boss, is simply astounding as Captain Dudley Smith. Kim Basinger makes the role of her career as prostitute Lynn Bracken, a Veronica Lake lookalike. The Wonders from Down Under are simply that: wonders. Crowe and Pearce are simply amazing. Spacey is his usually brilliant self. His sheer confidence carries his role. Every plot-line comes together in this gritty, vividly entertaning film. Everyone is pitch-perfect, the casting is stunning, and the direction is flawless. Hanson and Brian Helgeland's script is stunningly captivating, with its intricate plotlines all combining to form one hell of a movie. I can't think of any flaws. L.A. Confidential may suffer solely from its excessive brutality and sex, but in a way, its absolutely needed. LAC shows us a dirty time, in a dirty world, with crap infiltrating every life. It's gorgeously done to perfection. Hollywood hasn't been this good in a long time. This is the best film of the year.
Final: **** out of ****
Movie Reviews by Sridhar Prasad
Movie Reviews starting with "L"
James Brundage's Review of LA Confidential
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