Review of L.A. Confidential (1997) by William M — 07 Dec 2014

I finally watched the 1950's police drama L.A. Confidential. I am not a fan of police movies as the films are often ridiculous. Setting the movie in the 50's offsets much of this problem for me as police work in the 50's is nothing like it is now, so the errors are not as glaring. That may be one reason that I loved this movie despite the overall premise.

The movie is visually striking. The cinematography and lighting are beautiful. The set design and costumes are excellent. Basinger's costumes and makeup were excellent.

The film had great fleshed out characters. Each of the protagonists had their flaws. Bud White (Crowe) has good intentions, but has fallen victim to noble cause corruption. Jack Vincennes (Spacey) also wants to do the same thing but seeks the trappings of stardom and that he sees and is willing to bend the rules to achieve them. Ed Exley (Pearce) comes across as the straightlaced idealist but in reality he is actually the most complex and pragmatic character. He is unwilling to plant evidence or beat someone into confessing but he is willing to lie to cover up the truth if he can gain prestige by doing so. They combine efforts to see that justice is served and the truth comes out; only to cover it up, ostensibly for the greater good. Basinger was 44 when the film was released. By Hollywood standards that is older for a sexy starlet. The makeup and costuming choices for her showed that she is a little older but still amazing sexy. The effect was to show that her character, a celebrity lookalike prostitute, is past her prime but still a beauty. Her bedroom shows that she still wants to be the innocent dreamer she was when she left Arizona and headed to L.A.

The film is rich and highly entertaining. I give it 5 / 5 (Must See).