Should have won the Oscar

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2013)

There is one thing that most people who have seen LA Confidential can agree on it should have beaten out Titanic as Best Picture of the year. The performances are flawless, obviously Kim Basinger as Lynn Bracken was the Standout ( winning the Oscar), but so was everyone else. The unusual Thing is there is really is only one good guy in the movie which was "Bud" White ( Russell Crowe), who although a violent person was decent and heroic. I go back to to what Lynn said to Lieutentent Exley ( Guy Pearce). " you're afraid of Bud because you can't figure out how to play him. He doesn't follow the same rules of politics as you do . It makes him dangerous. I see Bud because I want to. I see But because he can't hide the good inside of him. I see Bud because he makes me feel like Lynn Bracken and not some Veronica Lake look-alike who f---s for money. I see Bud because he doesn't know how to disguise who he is. I see Bud for all the ways he is different from you." Spoilers Ahead: Another difference, is he takes bullets for Exley, when the corrupt Captain Dudley Smith ( James Cromwell), tried to kill him. Another difference is Exley shot Smith in the back ( instead of arresting him or at least looking him in the eye, which of course, is cowardly). Smith, is really the worst one of all who wanted to take over the drug trade, and murdered fellow Police Officer Jack Vincennes ( Kevin Spacey), in his own home. Other miserable characters are the deep in the closet, DA, blackmailer Sid Hudgens ( Danny DeVito), and every other character except Bud and Lynn. The ending apparently said it all where the Crooked Smith and the murderous Exley are made out to look like heroes and as Lynn put perfectly " some men get the world ( Exley), and others get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona ( White)."However, I am not so sure that Exley won, because " And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?" ( Mark: 8:36). I think White was the winner because he was at least able to get to Arizona with Lynn. Is she perfect? No but she does love him, and he was able to not only survive ( unlike Smith and others), but can at least look at himself in the mirror ( unlike Exley). Basically this film is a masterpiece that should have won the Oscar. 10/10 Stars