L.A. Confidential

For my Neo noir post, I decided to blog on L.A. Confidential, my favorite of the various noir films. This R Rated film directed by Curtis Hanson stars Kim Basinger, the femme fatale playing Lynn Bracken, a former porn-star who later becomes involved with several members of the LAPD. Guy Pearce plays Lieutenant Exley, the nerd of the film who is trying to follow in his decorated father's footsteps as a police officer himself. Kevin Spacey is Jack Vincennes, an officer who tips off a gossip magazine as well as working for a TV show. Russell Crowe plays Bud White, a big brawny fellow who is used by the department to both intimidate and beat the crap out of people. Finally, James Cromwell plays Cpt. Dudley Smith, a veteran of the department who mentors various officers and gives advice.

Set in Las Angeles during the 1950s, the flick begins with a large group of officers, including Bud White, Vincennes, and others, completely annihilating a group of Mexicans who beat up two officers. Exley uses this as an opportunity to get promoted by testifying against fellow officers, thus advancing his career and isolating himself from the rest of the department. As the movie progresses, however, the main three characters Vincennes, Exley, and White come together by investigating a shooting that left Bud White's former partner dead. This riveting detective film is a must see for anyone over the age of six, or three accompanied with a parent.

My rating system is rather straightforward. I will judge the plot, acting, lead female character, and how much I liked the movie using a scale of stars 1 through 10, obviously 10 being the best.

Plot - 7 stars. To be honest with you, the movie can get kind of slow at various points in the movie. Yes, 15 years ago it was probably a nail-biter throughout, but this is the 21st century, and us youngsters are used to action packed content throughout. It was good, but it wasn't that good.

Acting - 9 stars. The acting was superb for all of the lead characters except for Kim Basinger, thus getting the 9 rating. Considering most of the lead stars were relatively unknown at the time period makes it all the better.

Female Character - 4 (Spoiler alert) Kim Basinger is not all that pretty. She clearly had a good 10 pounds of make-up on, and the fact that she cheats on Russell Crowe takes her down another two stars right there. How can you cheat on RUSSELL CROWE, the man is a legend. There is absolutely nothing that connects the audience with her except for the fact that she gets taken to pound town by Crowe, Exley, and other male suitors throughout. A woman like Eva Longoria or maybe even Jessica Alba would have been clutch. The casting director really dropped the ball on this one.

Overall - 8 stars. Be quiet, I know the average of 7 9 and 4 is not 8, but no one asked you. This is my blog. I did like the movie substantially, despite the fact that I didn't like the female character at all, which I find to be a big deal in my eyes. Some particular aspects of the film, such as the developing of the characters and the ending made it a great movie. One of my favorites, probably not. Would I see it again, absolutely.

Thanks for reading my blog, and until next time, this is Andrew Kadar aka Swagmaster aka kid who lost two jobs in a week, signing off.