L.A. Confidential - Page 2

Whoops.

Right, but to players, those hands are the least interesting*. They play themselves, and any halfway-decent player wouldn't feel any great pride (that's pride, as opposed to happiness) in winning how Bond does. To have the hero really outplay the other guy, you need to get bogged down in a lot of highly technical, very specifically psychological stuff that would kill any kind of pace. Lucky You presents poker playing somewhat accurately by not focusing on the one-in-a-billion hands and celebrating solid but difficult moves like calling down with bottom pair or laying down a pair of aces.

Anyway, need to see LA Confidential again.
*not that everyone doesn't have a handful of sob stories they love to tell

If only Lucky You had Giancarlo Gianini to explain all the intricacies of poker. Then not even Barrymore could've stopped that movie from being a mega-hit!

I took this in last Monday at the Parkway and was gratified by just how solid the movie remains. The only other time I had seen it was years ago on DVD and, although I enjoyed the film, I retained very little. Somuchso, in fact, that when Spacey's character meets his end, I actually gasped. I do that far too rarely at movies these days.

That's the impressive thing to me about this film. Hansen approaches it like a journeymen, but nails nearly every aspect of the thing. Pacing is perfectly handled, as are the screenplay and scene construction. Considering the intricacy of the story, Hansen's achievement is especially notable. (Think of how DePalma - one of my favorite directors - fumbled on Black Dehlila.)

Aside from Basinger (who is okay in her limited role) the cast is fantastic. Crowe is brooding intensity, Pierce personifies purpose conflicted with ambition, and Spacey is all sold out ideals. Watching it now, I was most impressed actually by Spacey. I had forgotten what a fantastic string of roles the man put together in the late 90s. I don't think any moment is more moving in the film than when Pierce asks Stacey why he became a cop and gets the sad reply, "I don't remember." Great, great stuff.

Have the Victory Motel shootout playing.  Jesus, I love the way this sequence is shot and cut together.  Fast, intense, well-paced, involving, and BAD-ASS.  All without ANY slow-motion or speed ramping.  You can probably tell what recent film I'm criticizing on an action-level.  And LA Confidential's not even an action film!

The film is magical in how well it works.

 

To be honest I have not a clue how Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland didn't go back to Warner's years ago and say " Buy White Jazz its a slam dunk! ".

Finally got around to seeing this, and it was of course bloody awesome. Laundry list time:

 

-The cast is of course incredible, all playing off each other wonderfully (I love the moment where Pearce and Crowe realize that Smith set them up and Crowe throws a chair out the window so people will think they're still fighting), but I want to give James Cromwell a special shout-out. Sure, his Irish accent slips occasionally, but he uses his natural charm and likability to chilling effect here. Also underrated is Ron Rifkin as Ellis Lowe; Rifkin's an actor I've liked since his enjoyably slimy work as Sloane on Alias, so it was nice to see him in a big ensemble.

 

-I like that the period detail and slang isn't overstated, but feels more natural and lived-in. The opening sequence with DeVito's wonderful narration is a great example of this, as is the scene where Bud and Lynn go to see Roman Holiday.

 

-Another acting detail I love is Kevin Spacey's laugh as the light in his eyes fades away; he knows that while he may be dead, his intentional "Rollo Tomasi" slip may still give Exley a chance for justice.

 

-I also love how this deconstructs the traditional noir ending where the corrupt are brought to justice. Instead, the system steps in and decides how the deaths will be viewed by the public, while Exley determines that he will use the system even as they use him, and that he can live with that.

 

-Speaking of Exley, the interrogation is indeed a brilliant scene, and it's remarkable how fearsome Guy Pearce becomes over the course of the picture, even though his strength is decidedly more quiet than Russell Crowe's.

 

-Also interesting is how Dudley's questioning Exley about what he's prepared to do at the beginning of the film sets up his character arc, as Exley ends up having to do nearly all those things over the rest of the film.

 

-"She is Lana Turner" is still a great moment, and I love the follow-up out in the car when Jack and Exley both crack up.

 

-The final shoot-out is indeed badass, and it's also not a cop-out "Hollywood" ending; the screenplay builds inevitably to the action, and Hanson and Helgeland also deserve credit for keeping track of the twisty plot.

 

-I also love that these characters are intelligent. When Dudley slips up on "Rollo Tomasi", it's not him being stupid; he's simply trying to find any loose ends, but Jack was smart enough to know that Exley would realize the significance of those words, and that would lead him to further answers.

 

So yeah, great fucking flick. Is the TV pilot on the recent DVD re-release any good?

It still creeps me out how Kevin Spacey makes his eyes just sort of..turn off..in that scene. Apparently that's just Spacey, no FX work or anything.

 

I actually think Spacey is my favourite thing about the film, he sort of brings a level of warmth to Vincenze which isn't there in the book but feels completely natural. I think because Pearce and Crowe sort of 'broke out' following this movie that they're viewed as the major players, but I think Spacey and Cromwell do a lot to quietly steal the show away. Playing LA Noire made me realise just how great Cromwell was and just how badly a character like that could be without an actor of Cromwell's ability. I also love how explosive the few action sequences are, the sound mix in this film is amazing and it really makes every shot and blow have impact.

YES.  I felt exactly the same thing as I realized what a schticky performance the captain in LA Noire gave.  I hated that captain.

 

Also, according to the commentary (or a behind-the-scenes featurette), Spacey requested that a dot be drawn on the wall that he could just focus on to give him the dead-eyes.  An awesome bit of technical acting.

 

I thought that acting detail was both creepy and really sad at the same time. My favorite Spacey scene aside from his death has to be at the Badge of Honor party, and then his discovery of Reynolds' body. You can just feel Jack's shame and guilt in his awkward interactions with Matt and Sid at the party, and his muted horror at Matt's corpse. The warmth you talk about kicks in for me after that as he tries to make things right by helping Exley, and Spacey makes that shift totally natural.

 

Also, was Danny DeVito great here or what? I almost always enjoy his electric, confident performances,  but he feels especially at home as the sleazebag Hudgens.

 

I also kind of like how Guy Pearce really makes Ed Exley a son of a bitch. The film sort of smoothes the rough edges of Bud White and Jack Vincenze, making them a little more likeable/noble. Guy Pearce just plays Exley exactly as he is in the book and manages to make the character utterly compelling despite being a complete and utter bastard. It's amazing how weasely and yet oddly likeable Exley is. In fact I think the only really misstep in characterisation is making Dudley Smith a little too broad a villain and dealing with him at the end of the film. One of the odd things about LA Confidential is that it feels completely standalone due to the fact that Smith, murdered so thorougly in the film, is pretty much the major antagonist across all the books.

 

Whenever I watch the movie I always wonder if the last five minutes are a reshoot, like the film was originally supposed to end with Exley in the interrogation room. Because Bud White gets shot dead in that climax and then pops up again with like a bandage right at the end.

See, I didn't think Dudley was too broad; he acted exactly the same as a villain as he did when doing police work, just with a different purpose. And I appreciate the standalone nature of the film; if Dudley had not died, Exley's character arc would've felt incomplete. For the record, I haven't read the book.

 

And Bud's survival didn't seem too unlikely to me; we still see him breathing after Dudley shoots him, he has several bandages in the final scene, and doesn't even have the strength to speak. I totally agree with you on Pearce's weirdly likable assholery.

 

Speaking of Ellroy adaptions, is Brown's Requiem any good?

 

I know Michael Rooker being in it, but its been a long time since i last saw this film.

Reading over this thread has me really jonesing to watch this masterpiece again.

 

Anyway, I would mind Hanson's LA Confidential 2 or Carnahan's White Jazz happening...................especially the latter.

Refuse to watch without Jack Vincennes, and I doubt Russell Crowe or Guy Pearce would want to do it again, although it would be cool to see Bud White as a Harvey Bullock esque washout. I think it would work better a TV show. AMC, make my dreams come true.