Essential Film Noir

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2006)

L.A. Confidential, one of the best pictures of the '90s (in fact, it could have won the 1997 Best Picture Oscar: it's so much better than Titanic), is the definitive proof that there is no such thing as an "unfilmable" book: Curtis Hanson (with the help of co-writer Brian Helgeland) has turned James Ellroy's noir masterpiece (which is 800 pages long) into a 135-minute long modern classic. It's THE noir of the '90s!
The story takes place in L.A., early '50s. It's a city where everything looks perfect, where everybody goes to become a movie star. But, as Danny De Vito's opening voice-over informs us, it's not as good as it looks: the "City of Angels" is actually run by Al Capone-clones such as Mickey Cohen (Paul Guilfoyle, aka CSI's Brass), and the police... Well, it just so happens a lot of the LAPD is among the mob's unofficial employees. And it's in this kind of environment that we first meet the three key players: Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is an ambitious young man who wants to be as good as his dad and do his job properly, even if that includes turning in his colleagues; Bud White (Russell Crowe) is a disillusioned cop who not only accepts violence as part of the job, but even uses it as often and much as possible in his personal crusade against wife-beating men (as his partner puts it:"You're like Santa Claus with that list, Bud, Except everyone on it's been naughty"); and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is the classic "Hollywood Cop", who gets paid by tabloids to bust coke-snorting celebrities. These three men, so different, will have to join forces when they discover their respective cases, which involve corruption, drugs, prostitution and various murders, are all linked to the Nite Owl massacre...
The award-winning script's focus is on the differences and similarities that connect the three protagonists and their views on the law. Hanson has completely removed the subplots concerning Vincennes and Exley's love lives (which occupied quite a bit of the book), preferring to show us only the bond between Bud White and Lynn Bracken, a whore but also the one person who truly understands the conflict and hatred that are at the center of the brutal cop's mind and soul. She's an extraordinary person, and she's played by a great actress: Kim Basinger, who was justly given an Oscar for her performance. As for the other actors, L.A. Confidential kick-started Pearce's career, confirmed Spacey's status as Best Actor of the Decade and reminded us that James Cromwell and David Strathairn are two of the best character actors around. But it's Crowe, in his Hollywood debut, who really steals the show. Forget A Beautiful Mind, The Insider, hell, even Gladiator: this is the role that should have obtained the Academy's attention.
New to the genre? This movie is a good start, alongside The Untouchables. Already a fan, and excited about Brian De Palma's upcoming adap of Ellroy's The Black Dahlia? Just keep watching L.A. Confidential in the meantime.