Tim’s Views: Christmas Movies – L.A. Confidential
Yesterday, the movie for this festive time of year was Max Payne. Today, it’s equally gory with a film noir set in the 50′s with L.A. Confidential.
Based on James Elroy’s novel, the movie dives into the cesspool of slime and disgust with L.A. cops in the 1950′s. It all begins with the beating of inmates that the media dubs Bloody Christmas. The story continues as it revolves around three cops, played by Russel Crow, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey. Crow is the mindless muscle, Pearce the boy scout who wants to stop the bad guys, and Spacey is Mr. Hollywood. As the three begin investigating a series of murders, they uncover dirty cops, and a crime ring that includes the Captain of the Homicide division, a dirty newspaper pusher and a prostitute dressed to look like Veronica Lake.
At first Pearce and Spacey work together thinking Crow’s character is one of the dirty cops, but after Spacey is killed off by the mastermind, Crow begins to help out Pearce, proving he’s more than just muscle and can think after all.
The characters pull off great performances as they at first make you hate them, with the excpetion of Guy Pearce. That hate turns to admiration, even if toward the end of the movie Pearce’s character actually comes off less than admirable. It captures the aspect of film noir nicely, and instills those images of old hard core detective novels.
This movie is a must see for anyone who likes suspense thrillers with a twist. Don’t take my word for it, though. Get it, rent it, buy it. Check it out for yourself. If this is your type of movie, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
