Los Angeles crime boss Mickey Cohen has been arrested and is serving a ten year sentence. A vacancy at the organized crime throne makes it open season for out-of-town thugs to try to move in and assume control. The L.A. police force, headed by Dudley Smith (James Cromwell), resort to sheer brute force and corrupt methods to keep them out. When a shooting at an all-night diner claims the life of an ex-cop, his former partner, Bud White (Russell Crowe), starts nosing around to get some information. But before he can get very far with his investigation, the supposed murderers are quickly caught by Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey). Something doesn’t sit right with any of them, and they each begin to dig deeper into the crime, with some violent consequences.
Once in while, Hollywood creates a great film that doesn’t require massive special effects, huge name stars, or hype and hucksterism to garner accolades. L.A. Confidential is one of them. Director Curtis Hanson has made virtually every scene integral to the plot and, therefore, maintaining a fantastic pace throughout the movie’s two hour and sixteen minute running time. The script, by Hanson and Brian Helgeland from the novel by James Ellroy, is full of gritty dialogue and some well-thought-out plot twists. This simply isn’t the Scooby Doo-level mystery film that Hollywood likes to crank out and hype up. This one’s got the goods on all levels.
Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce are all effective in their roles as the three cops with different motivations for getting the case solved. Kim Basinger won an Academy Award for her performance as Lynn, the Veronica Lake lookalike, so there’s not much else I can add about her performance. The script, again, comes into play by helping each of these actors out by giving them meaty characters to work with and flesh out. Instead of trying to create a character out of a flimsy sketch that usual scripts seem to provide, the actors in L.A. Confidential can concentrate on making them even more believable with subtle nuances. And that they do.
With a fantastic script, great direction and masterful performances from each and every actor or actress involved, this is my pick for the best movie made in 1997. My only complaint is that I didn’t see this movie in the theater during its initial run. Don’t miss this one.
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
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