L.A. Confidential
(1997)
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Director Curtis Hanson captures the duality of 1950s Los Angeles in this striking film noir adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. The City of Angels might be sunny, inviting, and glamorous to the rest of the world, but it's also filled with corrupt cops, elegant hookers, murder cover-ups, and manipulative paparazzi, all of which are just the tip of the iceberg. It's impossible to know exactly who's trustworthy and who's not as three detectives (Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce) each use their own tactics to investigate a coffee-shop massacre. |
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This superlative filming of James Ellroy's complex 1950s detective story by director Curtis Hanson fuses period authenticity, fluid direction and searing, full-blooded performances. From the apparently open-and-shut case of a diner bloodbath, the sleazy scenario takes a trio of cops — ambitious rookie Guy Pearce, smooth TV adviser Kevin Spacey and punchy hard man Russell Crowe — down a corpse-strewn path of crime, corruption and celebrity lookalikes. The roles fit the actors like tightly stitched gloves, and the film's bruising brutality is amplified by the absence of clear-cut heroes, with the police characters as morally dubious as the film's villains. The excellent script won an Oscar, as did Kim Basinger for her hard-edged vamp, but the picture really deserved a hatful.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Exemplary, excellently acted thriller of creeping corruption, full of surprises; only the coda disappoints.