L.A. CONFIDENTIAL



Rated R - Running time: 2:20 - Released 9/19/97
Author's Note: This is one of the ten movie reviews I wrote for the October 30, 1997 issue of The Republican, the first week my reviews were ever published there. Because of space and time requirements, these ten reviews had to be especially brief, some even shorter than this Author's Note. Someday I will re-view them and re-review them so as to provide a more in-depth commentary, but for now you'll just have to live with the short version. Sorry. --JRM

This is a 1950's comic-book style police drama, with two cops battling each other, themselves, and the system to find true justice. There is lots of wisecracking, 50's cliches and fistfights among the multitude of tough guys in this picture. There is almost no conversation that isn't punctuated with a right cross to the jaw. Starring Kevin Spacey, Kim Bassinger, Danny DeVito, Guy Pierce, and Russell Crowe, it is about a number of inexplicable murders associated to the local mob boss and his heroin operation. A prostitute that looks just like Veronica Lake, and a cop more interested in press coverage than actual police work. It is an intriguing whodunit, but nothing really unpredictable. Good work by Pierce and Crowe, though. ****
Copyright 1997 by John R. McEwen and The Republican

See Current Reviews

See FilmQuips Archive