The Last Great American Film

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2004)

If not for a film about a ship hitting an iceberg and going down L.A. Confidential would have been a sure-fire Academy Award Best Picture winner. The best part of the movie is Kim Basinger winning a Best Supporting Actress for her role as a Veronica Lake lookalike hooker and Russell Crowe as a fearsome cop who finds a surprising capacity for love.
The genius of the film is the three inter-related stories (hookers cut to resemble movie stars, missing heroin and a murder investigation) in LA of the early 1950's. Cops, hookers, corrupt politicians and gangsters all touch each others lives and in the tabloid press in surprising ways.
The acting is terrific with James Cromwell, Kevin Spacey, Guy Pierce and Danny DeVito all selling their souls for ambition - and the price to be paid; deserved or not. The costumes and set design are first rate. If you like film noir, or just love well-crafted movies you'll have to look hard to find a better film.