Above average, but not by much

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2002)

Much as I love reading I'm not into fictional novels as I've given up on people taking 12 pages to get down the stairs or 2 page descriptions of a biro. The benefit is being able to watch a film (a) without comparing it to the book, thus risking being disappointed & (b) not knowing how it ends, so I've no comment on the adaptation.
As for the film, yes it was fairly good, but no classic & certainly overated. I've seen very little film noir but what I have are predominately modern day attempts (Man Who Wasn't There) and I've yet to really enjoy one, as the cinematography & mood often seem more important than a plot, and that happened here to a degree.
The story was really hard work to follow. Not through being complicated but that you had to focus on every word & if you missed a single second you were lost. I don't mind corruption in police storylines even though it's been flogged about for years now, but I've seen it done better & more interestingly than here.
There were plusses though. Great acting from Crowe & DeVito with Spacey & Pearce in good performances. But the less said about Basinger the better. I'm staggered she won an oscar. She wasn't in it a great deal, had very few lines and when you did see her she was shagging or being slapped. You can fast forward her scenes.
Once the film gets going it's one of the most realistic portrayals of a decade from a Hollywood movie, ever. There's also a few thought provoking social issues thrown up, one or two excellently done, violent scenes, a great intro and some good all round action but sadly interspersed with a handful of meaningless & dull scenes that make the plot a bit stop-start.
I just couldn't ever fully connect with any of the characters to love this film, which I never seem to be able to do with the darkness of Film Noir.
A low 7/10