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
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