Holds up well after 22 years

Rating: 9/10 (12 October 2019)

This film was the big sensation of 1997. Re-watching it 22 years later with more of a jaundiced eye, I have to say that it still holds up pretty well.
_LA Confiedntial_ replicates 50's noir cinema successfully, except that it's in color (but it's very 50's looking color, a nice detail), and it includes the requisite 90's nudity, profanity, and violence that was forbidden in those movies. A lot of the dialogue sounds like it came from a 50's _Dragnet_ episode, but that's appropriate.
The performances by Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Danny DeVito, and James Cromwell, as well as most of the supporting cast, are convincing. I'm leaving out Kim Basinger, who plays a blonde bimbo (every 50's noir movie has to have one) who is not greatly integral to the story, just there for sex appeal. Let's face it: She didn't get famous because of her brilliant acting.
I can't help but wonder if, in the 50's, all cops beat witnesses and suspects and stuck pistols in their mouths to get information. I'm sure it happened at times, but in this film, it's the norm. Hollywood embellishment, perhaps. I haven't read James Ellroy's novel, so I can't really say. But bad guys are bad guys, and it's fun to watch them get their asses kicked.
The multiple plots intertwine without confusing the viewer, and they come together nicely.
The entire agenda of the film is about exploring the sleaze, political corruption, and immorality that lies beneath the superficiality and glamour of L.A. That is exactly what noir writers like Chandler, Hammett and others were all about. In various ways, this film pays respect to them all.
With all of its affectations, this film is like watching a cartoon. But a damn good one.