Probably the best crime drama film noir since Chinatown.

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2001)

Probably the best crime drama film noir since Chinatown. Chock-a-block full of marquee talent, the story that starts off slow and escalates in a frightening spiral.
Set in the early 1950's, a supposed golden age of American history. World War II was a memory, and the Korean War was behind us. There was nothing on the horizon but prosperity and peace. Los Angeles sat on the verge of becoming the city it was destined to be, and is no more, and everything was right with the world.
If it were only true. A corrupt police force is almost indistinguishable from the organized criminals they oppose. To make it even more apropos, one of L.A.'s finest is an advisor to a Dragnetish show and has quite a side business selling news scoops to a loathsome gossip columnist delightfully played by Danny DeVito.
Kevin Spacey is the most consistent actor in the business, and his performance doesn't disappoint. James Cromwell and David Strathairn are similarly sharp. But the real gems are Guy Pearce, trying desperately to shed his Priscilla, Queen of the Desert past as the oh so anal Lt. Exley, and Russell Crowe, whose star potential was just being recognized by American audiences. His brooding Bud White is the stuff of cinema legends, which Crowe will surely become.
Then there is Kim Basinger, who won a well-deserved Oscar. She plays a hooker with astonishing elegance and grace, hallmarks of all Basinger's roles. The stars don't produce as much chemistry between as around one another. They seem to smolder with private fires that burn slightly out of reach of one another. But it's still hot!