L.A. Confidential (1997)
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L.A. Confidential Movie Review
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 crime film starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce and Kim Basinger. It is one of the most overrated films that I have ever seen.
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“Go back to Jersey, sonny.
This is the City of the Angels,
and you haven’t got any wings“
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The plot is your typical crime storyline. It is dull, uninspired and thoroughly difficult to follow and tedious owing to its too many characters and convoluted plot points that are not complex, but just needlessly complicated and none of them matter anyhow. I was bored endlessly by this film which is so long and so incredibly dull that it was almost unwatchable to me personally.
Yes, it does have a great cast, that is its only evident strength. Danny DeVito is as good as he usually is and the same goes for Kevin Spacey who is very good, but this is far from his best performances. Russell Crowe is the most likable of the bunch in one of his breakout roles, but Kim Basinger is not likable and Guy Pierce is actually very unlikable and annoying here. I really disliked him and his character. All of these characters are rather forgettable or dull or unlikable and all are very weakly developed.
L.A. Confidential is not a noir, neo-noir or whatever. They can call it that as much as they want, but this is a typical modern crime film that never can hold a candle to the noir classics of yesteryear. It is as overly violent as you would expect from these hideous crime films and as boring and as soulless per usual.
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I also found its direction rather uninspired. The same goes for editing, cinematography and everything really is rather mediocre despite the acting which is the only good thing here. How it received its accolades is beyond me. Nine Academy Award nominations is just baffling to me. Thankfully it lost most of them to ‘Titanic’ which is a much better film and that says a lot as that film is far from great. This is a further proof of how the nineties proved to be the driest, worst period ever for the movie industry.
L.A. Confidential is very well acted by its great cast, but otherwise immensely boring and almost unwatchable, weakly developed in characters, so uninspired and needlessly complicated in its storyline and technically not that well made too. It is one of the most overrated films I have ever seen and I am thoroughly baffled at why everyone loves it so much.
I just saw it and loved it. I loved the score, I thought the movie was well developed and I enjoyed the whole concept of someone trying to avenge murders of people during Christmas. I enjoyed the actors in the movie quite well. I liked the subtlety and how this thing builds. I think it deserves all of the praise. This is a 4.5 movie for me. Maybe a five?
Glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I unfortunately don’t care for most neo-noir movies as I find them infinitely inferior to the noir movies of the forties.
Simbasible, I mostly agree with your take on L.A. Confidential. I remember that I was terribly disappointed by that movie! The plot wasn’t all that exciting, and I didn’t think that the cast was as great as many critics said in their reviews. It didn’t help that I am not at all a fan of Kim Basinger. I also didn’t like the totally shiny and artificial look of the movie. I was always aware that I was seeing a movie which IMO tried to imitate the classic noir look but failed. It would have helped btw if the movie had been shot in black and white like most of the classic noir movies 😉
I am glad that you agree! Totally agree with what you said about its artificial look, really made me not care for it even more. I may be in the huge minority here, but I generally tend to not care for neo-noir movies as most seem to only emulate those classic noir films, but only to a certain degree as they never fully succeed at what they are trying to do. Anyway, thanks for the comment!
@simbasible, I hadn’t realized that you have responded to my comment. Thanks 😀
Like you I am a big fan of the noir movies of the late 1940s and 1950s. Movies like “Double Imdemnity” are terrific. But my all-time favorite is “Out Of The Past” with a fantastic Robert Mitchum in the role of the world-weary ex-gumshoe who tries to free himself from the clutches of a femme fatale and her gangster boyfriend who won’t allow him to make a fresh start. The movie has aged very well, and people still discuss the hauntingly beautiful ending. What is your favorite noir movie?
Those two are my favorites too! Double Indemnity is the best in my opinion and the close second is Out of the Past, love that film. The other great noir films are Leave Her to Heaven, interesting for being a rare noir in color, and the original Nightmare Alley is quite memorable. I also love In the Lonely Place and Touch of Evil.
I haven’t watched “Leave Her To Heaven”, yet, because I thought that the plot isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but Gene Tierney is in it, who is a great actress with a remarkable private life! I also have not seen “Nightmare Alley” and “In A Lonely Place”, but I will watch as soon as I have time. Thanks for mentioning these movies!
“Touch Of Evil” is simply grand, and while today it would be – rightfully so – an absolute no-go to cast a naturally blond and blue-eyed Caucasian actor as a hispanic guy, Charlton Heston, whom I don’t even like all that much, is actually quite good in his role as a Mexican police officer! Let’s put it that way: while I would’ve prefered a more suitable actor in that role, this weird casting decision doesn’t really impact the overall brilliance of the movie. It’s more like a small and irritating pebble in a shoe, because I have to remind myself now and then neither Ben Hur nor Moses are in this movie – and btw both of these characters also should not have been blond and blue-eyed 😉
Question: is “The Night Of The Hunter” with Robert Mitchum in the role of an absolutely evil false preacher also a film noir? Whatever it is, it’s a great and absolutely scary movie. It’s a bit like the very dark original fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.
As to all those neo-noir films which aren’t that great – there’s actually one which is outstanding: Ridley Scott’s “Bladerunner”! Yes, it’s sci-fi – but the burned-out hard drinking retired bladerunner Rick Deckard who agrees to take on one final job, and who then falls in love and runs away with a stunningly beautiful replicant, is not so different from Robert Mitchum’s detective in “Out Of The Past” who also runs away with the woman he should have reunited with her ex-lover who is a client of the detective. Robert Mitchum was actually considered for the role of Rick Deckard, but he may have been already too old in 1982. Whatever, Ridley Scott’s bleak and constantly dark and rainy LA in the year 2019 and the soundtrack of Vangelis create a very noir atmosphere.