LA Confidential

Rated - HOT! HOT! HOT!


This is a really intelligent, fast-moving film which is visually interesting and has a great cast. Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce are Australian, and they are so interesting on screen. Kevin Spacey gives another terrific performance. He is prodigiously talented. The screenplay is original, retaining just enough of James Ellroy's jaundiced voice and dark prose. The film is beautifully art-directed ( the fifties look gorgeous!) and perfectly paced. All that and violence too. I'm in heaven!

The other thing I love about this film is the way it creates a new urban myth about Hollywood hookers who look like stars. Also the way it deals with a topic very close to Australian's hearts in any decade: police corruption.

Just about the only quibble I have is the casting of the dreamy and sensitive David Strathairn as the vice boss. How inappropriate! And maybe the ending. I have a better one. Ask me about it sometime.