Hollywood Noir At Its Seedy, Stylish Best

Rating: 10/10 (17 September 2019)

Film noir. It's like my own cinematic femme fatale. Attractive in its look, with shadows and neon and pinstriped suits, and often complicated underneath, the genre of detective stories and crime thrillers is seductive to this film connoisseur. I approach every film noir with anticipation. And yet, just like the dames who lure in an unsuspecting private eye, these films often leave me burned. Burned by mysteries whose hooks never catch or whose resolutions leave me baffled. And I still come back. Why? Because of films like L.A. Confidential. Curtis Hanson's adaptation of James Ellroy's novel represents the peak of what the genre can do. It outclasses Chinatown, overshadows Double Indemnity, upstages The Maltese Falcon. If those great films are the seduction, L.A. Confidential is the orgasm. This is the very best film noir.
Three characters drive the mystery at the heart of L.A. Confidential. Police detectives Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) the by-the-book rookie, Bud White (Russell Crowe) the bruiser, and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) the crooked veteran, lead an investigation into The Nite Owl Murders, each tackling the case in their own way, and each forming a tenuous connection with a mysterious woman named Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger). Here is where most film noirs stop; with a case for the protagonist to solve, and characters who will reveal their secrets along the way. But L.A. Confidential is not so simple. It doesn't unfold as an episodic progression of events, but rather as a growing and building, tapestry of mystery. The secondary characters involved do not enter the plot in tidy, regularly-scheduled interludes, but in ever-shifting, fluid ways.
Describing the plot any further would detract from the surprise of watching this mystery unfold. The Academy-Award-winning script by Hanson and Brian Helgeland finds a way to not only streamline Ellroy's sprawling novel, but dramatically enhance its underlying themes. We are kept abreast of all the plot's developments, never getting lost in the shuffle of characters, dealings, and unsaid secrets. And because the hook catches so easily, the film's carefully timed surprises work completely. What we are dealing with here is a case-study in mystery writing. More than almost any other crime thriller I've seen, L.A. Confidential invites audience investment, leading us along, convincing us we've got an idea of where it's headed before revealing a card that was there the whole time. I was riveted by this story, active in trying to figure out where the mystery was headed and thunderstruck by a shocking third act denouement.
I was also, crucially, invested in these characters. Credit goes to the cast. Pearce is a natural rooting interest at the film's core, and Crowe and Spacey bring nuance to their broadly drawn characters. Elsewhere a veritable Hall of Fame lineup of character actors bring Hanson's vision of 1950s L.A. into razor-sharp focus. James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, and David Strathairn lend juicy, colorful support to the film. These are three of the best to ever do it, all working at their creative maximum. Kim Basinger is the one to come out with a gold statue for her work, and she is great as the damaged object of our cops' affection, but everyone here is Oscar-worthy, straight down the line. One of the great ensemble performances I've ever seen.
And then there's Curtis Hanson, and the 50s Hollywood underground he and his collaborators resurrect in fabulous detail. L.A. Confidential is a lush period production featuring authentic costumes and sets, photographed with assured style by Dante Spinotti, lending the sleazy underbelly of Hollywood an alluring technicolor shine. Hanson's direction is ultra-confident as well. It's enough to keep the audience firmly on the story's track until the last shot, but for a movie with an arsenal of guns, shootouts, and the like, it's quite an achievement that Hanson makes us fear for every bullet. Hanson doesn't do movie violence. He does violence that is real and scary. When the guns go off, you can feel your heart in your throat. It's powerful. Real excitement. Topping it all is a brilliant, pounding jazzy score by Jerry Goldsmith, yet another reliable professional contributing their best work.
The best films have a way of activating our mind, of forcing us to sit up and pay attention, and of rewarding us in turn. The act of watching L.A. Confidential is not a passive admiration of craft, as so many film noirs are. It's an active process, tempting us to try connecting the dots ourselves. You watch it with your eyes wide open, searching the screen, observing faces, trying to find cover in a gunfight. It's so much more exhilarating, so much more satisfying than any other film noir I've seen. It's grand where everything else seems small, it's fast where others are slow. It's glorious to look at and even better to think about.
98/100