Only half GREAT!

Rating: 5/10 (7 October 2002)

Reviewers have been far too generous in praise of La Confidential. The script is a perfect example of Hollywood once again dropping the ball. The first half of the film is GREAT, as good or better than I wanted it to be: a juicy plot (plus various sub plots) of just the right complexity, a seductively delicious milieu, and fascinating characters.
WARNING: SOME OF WHAT FOLLOWS MIGHT BE CONSIDERED SPOILERS!
Suddenly without warning, the story switches to the favorite action movie plot used by every other Hollywood hack  THE BIG CHEESE VILLAIN. You know this one, the evil authority figure symbolizing the corrupt establishment (such as a CEO, superior military officer, high government official, football coach, etc.) that no one would ever suspect turns out to be the criminal mastermind behind all the movie's mischief and mayhem. That worked in This Gun For Hire with Alan Ladd, but has been beat to death since Viet Nam and Watergate.
From the moment that Kevin Spacey is killed, the movie runs on automatic scriptwriter. As always the case with THE BIG CHEESE VILLAIN FORMULA, the major plot conflict and all sub plots can be conveniently resolved with an action packed ending where the hero (or heroes in this case) confront the villain and an army of evil henchmen in a setting reminiscent of the OK Corral. In the end, countless bad guys are blown away, yet THE BIG CHEESE is left to kill. As we've seen many times before, the crafty arch villain almost kills our heroes. And just when you've given up all hope, those physically and emotionally wounded good guys manage some last minute gunplay neatly dispatching old Mr. Corruption. And the world is right again.

As a bonus, the filmmakers of LA Confidential tacked on a schmaltzy epilogue with some cornball lines and long pathetic stares. This is a painfully obvious attempt to dupe us into thinking we experienced something profound. Oh yes, our heroes are a little more cynical, but they are much wiser, caring men, and their tarnished honor is still intact. Reminds me of Nancy Olson's line in Sunset Boulevard, `...just a rehash of something that wasn't very good to begin with.'
If you award flawed films like LA Confidential a top rating, what about noir classics like The Big Sleep, Out Of The Past, and Chinatown -- twenty stars at least? Personally, I would have enjoyed seeing more of Kevin Spacey and the 50s TV angle  as that's something different. I guess the filmmakers were constrained by the book, which I haven't read. But that doesn't excuse throwing out creative license, taking the easy way out, and opting for THE BIG CHEESE VILLAIN FORMULA, even if it's in the book.