The Good & Bad Of L.A. Confidential

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2006)

The GOOD - Interesting, start-to-finish and a real visual treat if you like to see the 1940s on film. This has the gloss of "Chinatown," cinematography-wise with nice period detail. It also had the advantage of modern-day surround sound. Meanwhile, the cast does an outstanding job with such modern-day stalwarts as Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Kim Bassinger, Danny DeVito, Guy Pearce, David Strathairn and James Cromwell. All of them played interesting characters. As a fan of the '40s Veronica Lake. I enjoyed Bassinger's impersonation of her. Veronica should have looked this good!
The BAD - A sordid feel to this film almost all the way through, from the tabloid mentality-narrative by Danny DeVito through all the various creeps and corrupt cops. Speaking of the latter, I just get so tired of filmmakers' almost always making the police look bad. In this film, everyone is dirty, even the only supposed "clean cop" (Pearce) who compromises his integrity in the end, too. They make the cops look even worse than normal by showing them blaming a black person who is really innocent. That's fine for To Kill A Mockingbird in 1962 but by this time all it demonstrates is Hollywood Liberals playing the race card again. Also, the story is a bit too mean-edged for me, with too many usages of the Lord's name in vain.
OVERALL - There is no denying this is an intriguing film, glossy and slick with just one short lull and one that keeps you involved for almost two hours. So, for the entertainment value, even with the negatives, this is worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of film noir.