L.A. Confidential was NOT great. (Spoilers)
Roger Allison
I'll grant that it looked good and had some decent performances. (At least
from Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe. Not all that impressed with Guy Pearce.
Maybe it was because I really didn't like his character.) However, I just
didn't get into it like lots of other people seem to have. I don't know, it
was just boring. And, worst of all, there were really no surprises. A bad
cop in cahoots with a bad millionaire using other bad cops to do their
bidding. How original... I will say that I didn't specifically think early
on that the Captain was the main villain. However, it did not surprise me in
the least when it turned out he was. (Shooting Vincennes was abrupt, but
again, not particularly original as a plot twist.) In fact, it really
disappointed me because this movie was so unsurprising and uninteresting. How
many times have we seen this in other movies or on TV cop shows? Too many to
count. I wanted something much more interesting and original.
Oh, and the whole thing with the Exley falling for Lynn so quickly just did
not ring true at all. I thought he was supposed to be such a great
politician. Yeah, everyone has his weaknesses, but in the context of this
story, I just think whores wouldn't have been Exley's weakness. So the whole
ending goodbye scene was really kind of nauseating for me.
I would recommend this movie only for those who like the look of the era.
But, hell, "Muholland Falls" had that, too.
Jun Yan
Although the story line is not terribly original (originality is terribly
overrated on the other hand), what's great, for me, were the characters
and acting. Basically the good idea was to have some obviously
troubled, imperfect, selfish and sometimes unlikable characters do the
things normally assigned to larger-than-life, perfect heroes as other
Hollywood movies usually do. The filmmakers played it safe and did not go
ALL THE WAY to fully display their flaws, but still the acting made up for
it. It never bore me. Every minute with Spacey and Crowe and even Pearce
(he got the tough job) on the screen had my attention. If only the film
had given more intimate portrait to the characters, but then the story is
too complicated.
By the way, where were these people screaming for originality when "Air
Force One" came out?
jun
Laroy
whole sleazy look and feel of it's 1950s setting was superb, but, you're
right, the plot (apart from a few surprizes) was predictable... but
surprizing only because of the fact the movie so closely resembled a
1950's noir film and violated those expectations with 1990s plots and
characters (seeing a Veronica Lake type say "fuck" was startling). As
much as I liked it, you may be right that once we all get over the
Sleazy 50s window dressing, the hoopla about this film may die out.
Still, can you admit it was a clever work to risk a big-budget movie on
such an unusual concept?
--laroy
shr...@asu.edu.nospam
Roger Allison <rall...@iquest.net> wrote:
: I'll grant that it looked good and had some decent performances. (At least
: from Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe. Not all that impressed with Guy Pearce.
: Maybe it was because I really didn't like his character.) However, I just
: didn't get into it like lots of other people seem to have. I don't know, it
: was just boring. And, worst of all, there were really no surprises. A bad
: cop in cahoots with a bad millionaire using other bad cops to do their
: bidding. How original... I will say that I didn't specifically think early
: on that the Captain was the main villain. However, it did not surprise me in
: the least when it turned out he was. (Shooting Vincennes was abrupt, but
: again, not particularly original as a plot twist.) In fact, it really
: disappointed me because this movie was so unsurprising and uninteresting. How
: many times have we seen this in other movies or on TV cop shows? Too many to
: count. I wanted something much more interesting and original.
: Oh, and the whole thing with the Exley falling for Lynn so quickly just did
: not ring true at all. I thought he was supposed to be such a great
: politician. Yeah, everyone has his weaknesses, but in the context of this
: story, I just think whores wouldn't have been Exley's weakness. So the whole
: ending goodbye scene was really kind of nauseating for me.
: I would recommend this movie only for those who like the look of the era.
: But, hell, "Muholland Falls" had that, too.
L.A. Confidential is maybe a bit overrated by the critics right now, but
that doesn't mean it's not a good movie. What impressed me the most is
that there was never a dull moment in its two and a halt hours running time;
I was completely absorbed. All the scenes in it contributed to the story,
and none of them were truly bad. All of the actors handle themselve well
(tho' I don't think anyone gave a truly unique performance), and none of
them seem awkward or out of place (yes, that include Kim Bassinger). The
story is complicated and not terribly original, but very well told (esp.
with so many characters) and not at all confusing. I don't think it's
a great movie, but it's very good grown-up movie, now that the kids
are back in school again.
Robert Nicholson
Agree. Personally what did it for me was the lack of explaining all of the
characters involvement in the conspiracy. This plot just wasn't convincing.