Review of L.A. Confidential (1997) by Gerard M — 20 Apr 2013

A lot of modern attempts at noir only stay afloat by referencing previous genre classics and merely aping their style. "LA Confidential" is a nice departure; a film that stands on its own with terrific performances and a visual style that hearkens to a golden age without over indulging.

The plot is appropriately twisty, and the characters seedy and interesting, although I found Guy Pearce's Ed Exley a point of confusion. I was never quite sure what I was to make of him, and I don't feel Pearce sells some of the extreme shifts in his personality, and they instead seem to fly out of left field.

Also, while Kim Basinger's Oscar-winning performance is nicely layered, I just don't buy the love story (and its somewhat romanticized view of prostitution).Kevin Spacey is brilliant though, and it's great seeing supporting turns from solid character actors like James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Danny DeVito, and Ron Rifkin.

The ending falls into a few too many action-movie cliches for the sake of an epic shootout, and I don't know if I quite understand the moral stance of the film (Again, this comes back to the oddly obtuse Exley character), but overall "LA Confidential" is a solid Hollywood mystery.