Classy film noire thriller with atmosphere

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 1999)

"L.A. Confidential" is a "guy thing," a well-directed, fast-paced thriller with an atmospheric feel comparable to say "Chinatown" and "Sunset Boulevard." Director Curtis Hanson brings the fifties L.A. milieu to life with music, authentic appearing sets and a story that focuses on crime and corruption, false glamour and moral disillusionment as only the City of Angels could play it. Things get a little bit comic book toward the end, but the characters and story and the rapid-fire one-liners will keep you glued to the screen. There's a lot of Raymond Chandler's L.A. here.
"Confidential" was the name of an "exposé" magazine published in the fifties in the L.A. area. I recall seeing it as a kid in liquor stores at some distance from the comic books. It used green lettering on its first page (the only page I ever saw), and amazing as it may be, I recall a headline once seen: "Youth Attacks/Rapes Own Mother." In this film the magazine is called "Hush- Hush," and Danny DeVito is appropriately cast as its sleazy editor and publisher.
Kim Basinger appears as a Veronica Lake look-a-like prostitute and plays it like Lauren Becall from a Bogey film, but without any wit or grace. James Cromwell is the personification of evil as the morally sick Capt Dudley Smith. Russell Crowe as Bud White, the justice-dispensing cop with a brutal temper and a soft heart for battered dames, gives an excellent performance. Guy Pearce as Ed Exley, the cop with glasses who doesn't care what the other cops think is also very good. Kevin Spacey as Jack Vincennes, the cop whose thrill is to be part of the TV production "Badge of Honor" (that's the old "Dragnet" series with Jack Web from the fifties) is also good.
In short, the cast is excellent and is probably the main reason this classy "shoot 'em up" is so over-rated. It was number 27 on IMDb's top 250 last time I looked. Recent movies and especially male-ID films tend to be overrated on this site. As the Internet and IMDb acquire a greater feminine voice, the ratings of thriller/action/adventure flicks will tumble.
A question to ask while watching this is, was the LAPD really this corrupt? Quick answer: yes. Next question, why? Answer, because all police departments, like all governments eventually become infested with corruption and must to cleaned out or overthrown. Why? Quick, but non- illuminating answer: human nature. Even you and I, if we had to deal with criminals on the one hand and the bureaucracy of the justice system on the other, day after frustrating and cynical day, might very well take on the values and persona of our surroundings.
Some authentic period piece phrases heard in the movie: "Just the facts, Jack"; "taco bender"; "just another Hollywood homicide"; "maybe that's why he's under a house in Elysian Park and don't smell too good" and of course the sleazy tabloid tag: "off the record, on the QT and very hush-hush."
One last thought for Director Hanson: Here's a lyric from a fifties tune that should have made the sound track: "Confidential as a church at twilight/Secret and moving as a lover's prayer/My love for you will always be confidential to me." They used to moon over that one in the barrios, circa 1955.
(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)