L.A. Confidential-
Curtis Hanson
L.A. Confidential, much like Heat, is another film that I viewed in the naivete of my youth which I failed to appreciate nearly as much as I should have.
When I saw it the first time, around when I was 17 or 18, I only paid the intricate storylines haphazard attention and became easily confused. Which served to be justifiable payment, for this was a truly remarkable film that demands your attention every step of the way for a very rich payoff at the end.
The ingredients in making this masterpiece were all top-shelf. Each perfectly cast actor was at the top of their game and delivered the goods every moment that they were provided with screen time.
Guy Pearce as the cunningly handsome and confident Serpicoesque golden boy lieutenant, seeking to avenge his fathers' death by Rollo Tamasi. Russell Crowe as the grudge-carrying hard-on, never beneath serving up a fist or ten when a wife-beating husband needs a fast pass to the front of the justice line. Kevin Spacey as the sleazy detective, more interested in hob-nobbing with Hollywood's elite than keeping the streets clean. Danny Devito as the cheap tabloid reporter stoking the flames. Kim Bassinger as the Hollywood damsel stringing everyone along, and character actor James Cromwell flexing his muscles of versatility as the sadistically corrupt Police Captain.
Aces in their places, every single one of them.
The intricate weaving of a story authored in the noir of Los Angeles' underworld was brilliant. The intrigue kept me glued to the screen at every scene and every deceptive payoff was so potent it felt like a slap in the face.
On top of everything, what I loved the most, was Curtis Hanson's technique of combining modern-day photography amidst an antiquated setting. So many other directors fail in this aspect and seem to overreach in striving to reach a slice of time that no longer exists. Whereas Curtis simply utilized updated methods to prove that corruption in a landscape fifty years our senior is just as titillating today as it was back then.
Brilliant.
Also, I feel that it is a shame that we as a society feel the automatic need to erase certain actors or prominent figures from existence when their sins come to light. Because I had forgotten what an amazing actor Kevin Spacey is. Now, this is not to meant to serve as exoneration for what he had done in the past (I still am not 100% cognizant of his transgressions). But at what point do we have to come to, to realize that these actors with which we the audience are responsible for catapulting into stardom, in the end, are human beings just like the rest of us? And not some perfect superhuman being devoid of any blemishes. Day after day I hear the complaints of cancel culture's wrath and how ridiculous it has become. Hopefully, a day will dawn when we can gather together in the common ground of admitting that we are sick of it.
Anyways, great film. Glad I saw it again with a more mature set of eyes.
Stars: *****
Verdict: Watch
Cousins: Heat, The Usual Suspects, Serpico, Chinatown, To Live and Die in L.A.