Directed by Curtis Hanson
Running Time: 2:15
This is what a real movie should look like. It should have a story
(although a somewhat confusing one) and it should have real actors. No
need for a lot of special effects or big explosions or big-named expensive
actors to drive the film, just a good, solid movie. Oscar winner Kevin
Spacey and Oscar nominee James Cromwell headline L.A.
Confidential but it's the to this point unknown actors, Russell
Crowe and Guy Pearce that carry the movie. Spacey, Crowe and Pearce play
L.A. cops, but they're as different as different can be. Spacey works in
Narcotics, but his big claim to fame is being the techincal advisor to
a big t.v. cop show. He works with a writer for a tabloid newspaper (Danny
DeVito) to get his name and picture in the public as much as possible.
Crowe plays a cop who protects women being abused by beating up the guys
who do it. He also likes to beat up various bad guys to get confessions
out of them. Pearce's cop is a goody-two-shoes who'll testify against other
cops just to get a promotion. But all three are brought together to try
and solve what the papers term the Night Owl Massacre.
The movie starts by letting you get to know all three and a little about
what makes them tick. Slowly the three stories converge as they independently
try and find out who killed a cop and five other people in the Night Owl
Diner. You really have to pay attention to what's going on. If you decide
to go to the bathroom halfway through the film, you'll probably miss something
important. It's a very in depth story, with names and faces flying by all
the time, so you really need to focus on everything to follow what's happening.
That and the fact that the movie clocks in at 2 hours and 15 minutes is
the only real downfall to L.A. Confidential .
It's the kind of movie that doesn't come around very often. The last movie
I saw that was this strong story-wise as well as acting-wise was probably
Lone Star . Definitely one to see in the theaters.
