Brilliant, powerful, gripping

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2000)

A top-notch dark drama of crime and corruption, "LA Confidential" is one of the most memorable films of the 1990s, thanks to an intelligent and cliche-free script, good direction, and superb acting. I'd have to single out Kevin Spacey, who is great in everything (he even redeems "Outbreak" from total mediocrity, overshadowing Dustin Hoffman). Here, he truly shines as Jack Vincennes, an urbane, charming, cynical, somewhat corrupt cop struggling with his conscience. Almost as outstanding is Danny DeVito as the sleazy tabloid journalist Sid Hudgins. Kim Basinger gives her subtlest and most nuanced performance ever as Lynn, the call girl made to look like Veronica Lake. Russell Crowe is excellent as Bud White, the brutish but good-hearted cop, and Guy Pearce gives an utterly convincing and often mesmerizing performance as Edmund Exley, the police officer who starts out as a self-righteous, priggish, ice-cold careerist and then becomes a man of true moral conviction who also has humanity and compassion. In a lesser but crucial role, James Cromwell is very good as Captain Dudley Smith.
The plot was somewhat convoluted, and sometimes it was hard to understand how the characters grasped connections between things that weren't so readily apparent. However, the film remained suspenseful throughout. (In a key moment, the identity of the villain is revealed in an act so swift and unexpected that you're guaranteed to jump!) The suspense is well balanced by humor. What is also impressive about "LA Confidential" is the character development. Exley, White, and Vincennes really grow as human beings in the course of the film, and these changes are conveyed not only through the dialogue and through their actions but also, particularly in Exley's case, through body language and demeanor. (I don't understand why Guy Pearce isn't getting more good roles!)
Truly a wonderful film.