Fantastic Detective Story

Rating: 9/10 (18 April 2003)

L.A. Confidential surpasses many other detective films like Insomnia for many reasons. First off, the performances for all three leads are incredible as well as the supporting characters. They portray their characters with utter perfection, and they never actually expose themselves, but instead rather lose themselves in their parts and lets the viewers understand them. Kevin Spacey as the celebrity cop, Guy Pearce as the golden boy Policeman and of course Russlle Crowe as a brutal yet sensitive police officer. The supporting acting by James Corwell and Danny Devito are excellent as well, but Kim Basinger was only good in it. In terms of the script, it was amazing, a very accurate depiction of 1950's L.A. Each character has this unique sense to them and it comes out in their lines. In terms of photography, this movie isn't very lush but isn't too gritty either so it's not exactly excellent. Curtis Hanson provides a very thorough direction of all the information on paper, but he lacked a real punch and the movie ended up not being brilliant and breathtaking. As for the oscars, Kim Basinger didn't deserve best supporting actress for her role because she didn't really do that much. Adapted screenplay was very well earned, though I haven't read the novel so I can't really talk about the "adapted". However, Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe needed to be nominated for their fine performances, as well as Guy Pearce. This movie deserved Best Picture over Titanic for sure, but doubts around Best Director. A solid look at crime and detective works, but overall it lacks a really fluent narrative. 9.5/10