I had watched L.A.Confidendial in 97 when it was released after a lot of hype about it & wasnt dissapointed by the hype at all. Now for me theres nothing like watching a film which justifies its hype(thats a tough task for any film). In 97 I had watched it just once& was very impressed by it too & kinda forgot the plot & other things along the way. All I remembered was that it was one of the very good movies I had seen in years. Today I watched it again in Star Movies & I was floored by the film. Its PERFECT!!!
L.A. Confidential is a story about two cops -- one all muscle and good intentions(Bud White played by Russel Crowe), the other all brains and big ambitions(Ed Exley played by Guy Pearce) -- who are thrown into conflict by a murder case. Along the way, we see various aspects of policing as well as an interesting but complex story line and some excellent acting.
I think most of you would have seen this film by now , so no point wasting ’’valuable’’ netspace on th complex story line(something I hate to do anyway).
The most striking thing about L.A. Confidential is the smooth direction. The continuity is picture perfect. There are some scenes which r pure gold -like the scene where Kevin Spacey leaves the 50 dollar Bill on his drink in the bar & leaves after having a major guilt complex.
The 50’s setting is mindboggling. The cars , the clothes, the style everything about 50s is depicting as it was. This was the film which put Russel Crowe & Guy Pearce into Hollywood stardom & rightly so. They both are brilliant in it alongwith Kevin Spacey of of course who has not know how not to act brilliantly. Esp Russell who has given his best performance till date in this film. Yeah in mybooks this rates much higher than Insider & that trashcan GLadiator. They r ably supported by the whole supporting cast(Danny DiVito is one of them). Even the extras form a essential part of the film. Even Guy Pearce’s glasses becomes a charcter in the film. Note how he takes it off for press photos & how everytime they go for a raid he is trying to find it( Kevin Spacey on noticing it says -’’Just dont shoot ME’’).
Unlike other Hollywood films about cops there is no black & white in L.A. Confidential, its all grey here. Curroption is not the ultimate evil here. It is something part of the whole system. Its how you maintain your sanity in all this chaos.
After watching it again today L.A. Confidential is clearly one of the best movies I have ever seen. It was a year when OSCARS got it right. But I dont think KIm Bassinger deserved the Oscar for the best actress for it. She was hardly there for a Oscar winning role. But then you can trust Oscar for screwing it up.
P.S - Last 5 years only 2 movies were deserving of all the oscars coming there way -L.A. Confidential & American Beauty ...And both had KEvin Spacey in it.