Another movie that I wanted to see, but was nervous about was L.A. Confidential. I'd enjoyed the James Ellroy novel and heard good things about it, but I was afraid it would be too intense. See, I'm a wuss.
OK, it wasn't that intense. It's basically a character study, set as a police procedural in post-WWII Los Angeles. Russell Crowe is Bud White, a brutal, not-too-honest detective with a soft spot for battered women. Guy Pearce is intense, political and too-damned-honest Ed Exley, who becomes a detective by ratting out the copes who beat a group of Mexicans in lockup. Their captain is James Cromwell as Dudley Smith, who wants smart cops like Exley and brutal ones like Bud White.
They are supported by Kevin Spacey as Detective Jack Vincennes, consultant to TV's Badge of Honor, who takes money from gossip journalist Sid Hudgens, played by Danny DeVito. Danny DeVito acts as sleazy comic relief - No movie that he is in can be too intense. Kim Basinger is the love interest as a prostitute whose specialty is imitating Veronica Lake.
All the characters are great, and there's a twisty mystery and some great shoot-em-ups as well. But the Guy Pearce/Russell Crowe good cop going bad/bad cop going good team are really the core of the movie. I've heard critics talking about how they got inside of the 1940s tough-guy mentality, and the period authenticity of the movie. I didn't really see that - it looked like a 90s period piece to me. But they were solid in the psyche of James Ellroy's characters.
A great movie. I don't know what I was afraid of.
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