Very good...but the BEST of 1997?

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 1999)

Yes, "Titanic" may have been a movie about a sappy love story that takes place during a famous event....but it was still a good movie, and worthy enough of being considered the best movie of 1997. "L.A. Confidential" is a thoroughly good movie. The script is excellent, and the plot takes really interesting (and unexpected) twists. It's a remarkable and unpredictable murder mystery movie--it reminds me of "Chinatown". I really enjoyed this movie. I'd recommend it to anyone, particularly because of its absorbing story. I had to see this movie twice to notice some things I had missed the first time around--mainly to notice some plot elements, but also to observe the performances better.
Now about the performances...just about all of the performances are very impressive. Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce, and James Cromwell give powerful performances. Of course, Kevin Spacey also gives a great performance (as he usually does, in just about every movie he's in). All four of those performances were award-worthy. I don't understand why Kim Basinger won several awards for her performance in this movie. There was nothing award-worthy about her performance. So she plays a prostitute--a "hooker with a heart of gold". Gee, as if we've never seen that before. As much as I like seeing Kim Basinger act in movies (and she did look even more beautiful as a Veronica Lake look-alike), there was nothing spectacular about her performance in this movie. If anyone deserved an acting award for this movie, it was one of the aforementioned actors.