Overrated

Rating: Null/10 (16 January 1999)

I could see this film getting an Oscar nomination in a weak film year, but L.A. CONFIDENTIAL is no more than a wannabe in the same great year that gave us TITANIC, GOOD WILL HUNTING, CONTACT, MEN IN BLACK, BOOGIE NIGHTS, and AS GOOD AS IT GETS, all of which are more deserving. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL has received accolades for sumptuously depicting an era of police corruption in the Los Angeles setting, but in fact this was adumbrated some years ago by MULHOLLAND FALLS, from which is film borrows liberally.
Working from an extremely sophisticated and subtle script, the male leads do an admirable job, and one or more might have been Oscar material. Mystifyingly, though, the Oscar went to the ever-monochromatic Kim Basinger, who is about as appealing as a Barbie doll, her bosom tortured into unnatural contours by the industrial-strength period costume. She has few lines, with most of her role consisting of looking tragic and victimized. I don't get it.