Neo-noir masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (6 September 2013)

L.A Confidential is an excellent neo-noir detective film. Set in the 50's heyday of the original noirs, it is able to recall the past while updating it for the 90's. The fantastic production design oozes period detail perfectly and captures both the Hollywood glamour but also the dark underbelly of L.A. The look and feel is one of its chief pleasures, creating an atmosphere and mood all of its own. The story is a typically convoluted murder mystery with the influence of the hard-boiled detective novels that inspired the original film-noirs. It's a very well controlled narrative which keeps the mystery enticing while introducing the characters brilliantly. They are a typical array of types you would expect to see in such films, such as the femme fatale and the cynical cop. But the beauty of the film is that it gives us the ingredients we are used to and want but fleshes them out in ways that makes it all feel very fresh.
The performances by the key players are hugely instrumental here. Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey are the three very different policemen involved in the case and all give exemplary work. While Kim Basinger and James Cromwell impress in important support roles. It's a real ensemble film. And with a very written script you have the final piece in the jigsaw, making this a film that works as a mystery and dramatically; a film that mixes the glamour with the darkness. In this sense it resembles a 90's Chinatown (1974) and you don't get much better than that.