The best the 90's has to offer

Rating: 10/10 (7 June 2007)

Curtis Hanson's crime epic LA Confidential reaches back to the film noir of the 1950's and combines it with the best the 90's has to offer. The story, based on James Ellroy's novel, involves the investigation of a mass murder in an all night restaurant and the corruption and hypocrisy within the LAPD and the Justice department.
The killers are sought by a trio of policemen: the flamboyant celebrity-cop Jack Vincennes (suavely played by Kevin Spacey), the sensitive brute 'Bud' White (Russell Crowe in a role he was born for) and the brilliant, but hated career-seeker Edmund Exley (one of Guy Pearce's best performances). When Lt. Exley gets honored after a dramatic shootout with the three Negro suspects, the case is closed. However, each of the three policemen are bothered by the feeling some things don't add up and they decide to dig for the truth. The deeper they dig, the filthier it gets and it all connects with hookers 'cut to look like movie-stars', a missing load of heroine and the murder of a young homosexual actor.
The success of LA Confidential depended on many things: a great plot, fitting music by Jerry Goldsmith, adequate camera-work, exciting shootouts, etc. But the film will be remembered mostly because of its diversity of great supporting roles: the backstabbing reporter Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito), the respected police captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell), the smooth pimp Pierce Patchett (David Strathairn) and the hooker Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger's Oscar-winning performance).
The acting-chemistry and the thrilling plot form the solid core of this masterpiece, one that will last through the ages.