Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Awesome Movie

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Los Angeles, 1950s. A big-time crime boss has ended up behind bars and now the criminal underworld is in turmoil, all the players vying for the top spot. Amidst all this we follow three members of the LAPD, as they all try to live their lives, do their jobs and perhaps even get somewhere in life.What I like the most about this film is its complexity and its willingness to push the genre. It's a neo-noir film, emulating the film noir thrillers of the early 20th century. And it works as a very good example of that genre. Everything from plot to characters to locations to atmosphere is at it should be. But then the film keeps adding to the pile. Especially when it comes to the three main characters. Take Russell Crowe's character, Bud, for example. At first he's a brute, nothing more. His police work hasn't bothered with the framework of the law in a long time and for him his job is an excuse to let out the rage bubbling within him. But then we dig deeper and find reasons for that rage, and suddenly it isn't so black-n-white anymore. Oh sure, he's still a brute, but in a way that we can understand, if not condone.This holds true for the other two as well. They all start out rather unlikable and unsympathetic. But the longer we follow them, the more we start to like them. And yet they never let go of those central traits we detested at first. If that's not good writing, I don't know what is.Great movie. Nail-biting and twisting plot with a heavy pulse. Fantastic characters played by A-list stars. Superb technicals helmed by a talented director. What's not to like?

L.A. Confidential (1997) is a crime drama/mystery film that has gone down in cinema history as one of the best films ever made. It is a great film, that's for damn sure. They did so many things right with it, from the acting to the clever dialogue. The acting and the cast is probably my favorite thing about this film. Russell Crowe, one of my favorite actors, gives a fine performance here as Sgt. White. His character has depth and is interesting, thanks to the writing and Crowe's skills with acting. Guy Pearce is great here, playing a hated cop, who has just been promoted to lieutenant. I loved how he played his character and the dynamic between him and the other characters. Kim Basinger gives what is probably her best performance. This was Academy Award win for best supporting actress, a win that she so deserved. I can feel her raw emotion in every single moment of her beautiful performance.The writing is great too, I was intrigued by the dialogue, especially when it involved Basinger's character. Very smart and quick, kept things interesting. I hate a film with poorly written dialogue, it's sloppy and you wills surely lose the audiences attention. Thank god this writer knew what he was doing. The editing was done well and I adored the costumes and set designs. I suggest L.A. Confidential as an interesting crime/mystery drama.

L.A. Confidential follows three cops in L.A. as they attempt to crack a murder case that is more than it seems. The three main characters, excellently played by Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, and Guy Pearce, are also well written. Yes, their characters are generally built around one major character trait, but they still manage to branch out from just that. The characters all have motivations that are laid out in expository fashion, but said exposition isn't so drawn out that it derails the film's momentum. It's quick, and it works to flesh out the characters. Not only that, but the characters go through arcs. They get over things, move on from ideas they once indulged, act out rashly like people do. They're flawed in more ways that just being dirty cops, and I think that's one of the best selling points about them and the movie as a whole. I'm a sucker for a good crime story, no matter whose side it takes. Here, L.A. Confidential manages to forge a complex, yet largely easy to follow story. Sure, I got confused with some of the names and such, but the dirty cop formula is one that is often easier to follow than police politics. The movie mixes both, and it actually works. The crime itself is engaging to see as the detectives find more clues and discover more along with the audience. It's a lot of fun, and often creates some stellar tension. If I have but one real issue with the movie, it's how forgettable it is. With poster art as bad as it has, it's no wonder I never paid attention to it until I saw the ratings. It's not a movie that would jump to my mind when someone brings up great movies, or even crime movies for that matter. Maybe later into the conversation I'd start raving about how good it was, but it'd take a bit to get there.Overall L.A. Confidential is a really solid crime drama with great characters and writing. Sure it's pretty forgettable, and I probably won't see it again for quite some time, but it's a solid watch for sure, and in the end I'd definitely recommend it.

Critics love this film and it won major awards, so I was expecting it to be very entertaining. I was very disappointed at how slow and dull it is. It's far too long for the small amount of actual material in it. The characters are dull and there are a lot of scenes that are just boring conversations.Kim Basinger plays a call girl, so she should certainly have at least one good sex scene. However, we don't even see her nude - let alone having sex.We don't see the murder that's at the centre of the plot - we only see the corpses afterwards and people talking about it. That means that we don't know exactly what happened.