better than the book

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2000)

I recently read James Ellroy's novel, and could not see how they could make a movie of it. It's huge and has three major plots. When I read the synopsis here on imdb, I rented the film. My husband, who has not read the book, and I both gave it an 8. The major plot line involving a Disney-like person that was discarded was no loss. It was a bit over the top. The movie is better without it. The characters were very true to the book, and I thought Kim Basinger was very good, but too old for the part. She's supposed to be about 28. Russell Crowe looked like a kid next to her.
I liked the clear sound and the good light. It would have been very easy to make this dark and murky as has been the rage since the really fast films were invented.