The perfect film.

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2003)

You know how Wes Bentley's character is watching the drifting bag from video with Thora Birch in American Beauty? And he speaks of life and world being sometimes so beautiful, that he feels he can't take it. I get that feeling with watching L.A. Confidential. This is a beautiful movie. It really takes you to the 50's and gives you a warm feeling of film noir. I have to admit never reading the book, but actually that takes me to a better position to rate this film as a film and not a book adaptation. And it works. My god, how it works. The characters are so far from being boring, that you'd be thrilled if they actually could jump from the screen to real life.. hell, even the bad guys. Curtis Hanson finally showed us his real potential as a filmmaker, after the likes of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild. Those films were not bad (actually quite good), but in the end they were just ordinary thrillers. L.A. Confidential explores deeper. The plot is not one-dimensional and I really didn't see the twists coming a mile away. Throughout the film, every character is perfectly cast and they all should have been up for Oscars. Looking for an intelligent film? Look no further.
***** / *****