Come Back Hoppy Seems We Still Need You....

Rating: 6/10 (3 July 2016)

I'm treading on thin ice here as this movie is a "Crowd Pleaser" so most viewers tend to like it. It has all the elements of a commercial hit; Stylish direction and photography, smart story, slick screenplay adaptation, savvy performances, big budget production details, sex, brutality + violence with coarse language laid on - what more could you want?... Well, dare I ask for a little more credibility?. This script is perhaps at times a bit too smart for its own good.
Ex Golf Caddie and original story writer James Ellroy often refers to himself as 'the best crime writer of all time' (that's a high calling for a writer to hang on himself!). Ellroy's a heavy drinker, Benzedrex abuser and gun lobbyist (he owns over 30 firearms!) so, his characters use guns more often than not. His writings also owe more than a passing nod to Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Jack Webb. The screenplay adaption by writer Brian Helgland and director Curtis Hanson hones several layers off Ellroy's original but remains highly complex (Ellroy had mixed feelings about the end result). Tough cop Bud White (an outright thug) played by Crowe - retains some of Ellroy's own personal life characteristics (mother raped and murdered in his youth) so he has a vicious agenda all his own - but when it suits he's a 'nice' guy at heart - well, sometimes...
Director Hanson seems to enjoy violence so lays it on thick - that's OK if it's believable - but, here our 'hero's' (etall) are subjected to brutal bashings of the type that you just don't get up and walk away from (let alone able to speak all that well for a day or two) but somehow they manage to front up next day with a little face rouge and not even a slight limp. Some even take several direct point-blank gunshot hits to the body only to re-appear with a few bandages. Ahh Hollywood at it's best. If discretion of speech is more than eloquence - then the on screen language is about as bad as it gets. Most of the above won't bother too many modern movie fans who've become so desensitized not many will make overly intelligent observations of these over-the-top details. The complexities of the story had the potential to be equally as interesting with half the heavy handedness and could've perhaps appealed to a larger cross section of the public.
Friends told me they saw this as an 'in-flight' movie back when airlines used to screen special (softer) versions of films - they enjoyed it - but were disappointed when they went to the Cinema for a second look. It's interesting that this movie had enough going for it without all the ultra 'realism'.
Italian born Director of photography Dante Spinotti manages to capture all the action without getting in the way of the story. Award winning composer Gerry Golsmith's sultry music score seems to owe quite a bit to Leonard Bernstein's main title for "On The Waterfront" - coincidence or design?. As for Kim Basinger's Academy Award winning performance, well...
Action and blood 'n gore crime fans will love it - most general viewers may also but, perhaps with more than a little compromise.
Not 'fully' sure why the addition of a clip featuring the man in black (William 'Hopalong' Boyd) on his white horse has been inserted into the end credits - symbolic or just a reference to the era...?