a masterpiece in every respect

Rating: 10/10 (30 September 2005)

I can always remember "L.A. Confidential" as the first gritty-noirish-seedy movie that I ever saw in the theaters. And it makes me proud that this was the first one that I saw. We all can assume that movies about the inner workings of the police world are going to be gritty-noirish-seedy, but overall, it doesn't do "L.A. Confidential" justice to only classify it that way. Curtis Hanson created an INDESCRIBIBLY great movie here.
It's 1950s Los Angeles. Tabloid writer Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito) likes to advertise the City of Angels as paradise on Earth, where you can raise an all-American family, meet a movie star, or even become one. But before too long, we get to see the police department. Officers Bud White (Russell Crowe), Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) are the main characters. White is the type who loves to help damsels in distress, but even he has his weak points; squeaky-clean Exley is the son of a cop, carrying on his father's work; and Vincennes mainly likes his job because of all the places that he gets to visit.
Following a murder one day, it's up to the three officers to investigate. But what they eventually uncover pales in comparison to what anyone would have expected. You see, some things extend farther than most people realize.
Kim Basinger won a well deserved Oscar for her role as sultry prostitute Lynn Bracken. A Veronica Lake lookalike, she's the type of woman who can lead you to new evidence...or might be planning something else.
I can't try to explain how good this movie is. Like "Chinatown", it shows the seedy underside of something usually assumed to be pure, but never gets too full of itself to the point of being silly. Why, oh why, did the Academy give "Titanic" Best Picture when "L.A. Confidential" was nominated?