Friday, November 25, 2005
Another Good Movie for Insomniacs
Couldn't sleep the other night and watched 99% of LA Confidential. I liked this movie a lot when it first came out (8 years ago) and it's only improved with time. It's an action flick for thinking types. There is little doubt that Russell Crowe is a big star now because of this movie. His portrayal of the blunt cop Wendell "Bud" White is subtle, thrilling and explosive. He could do everything that Brando in his prime could do. I had seen him and liked him in some of his smaller movies (like Romper Stomper and Virtuosity) but after this role, you knew he was going places. Crowe was born in New Zealand but lived most his life in Australia.
The other guy in it on the brink of stardom was another Aussie emigre, Guy Pearce (are there no American born actors who can play Americans?), who went on to play in the extraordinary Memento and very good The Count of Monte Cristo. Pierce was Sgt. Edmund Jennings 'Ed' Exley in LA Confidential, who starts straight as an arrow and is seduced into a sort of just corruption. These guys are good, but the glue that holds the production together, the older pro at the top of his game, is Kevin Spacey as Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes.
Spacey's role as Vincennes, who starts off corrupt and self centered but seeks to redeem himself in the turning point of the movie's morality, is nearly the high water mark for Spacey's pretty distinguished career. I first noticed Spacey on TV as Mel Profitt in Wiseguy in 1987. The toes knows. Other great roles were in Henry and June, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Usual Suspects and Se7en. After LA Confidential, however, except for American Beauty, Spacey has not regained the edge or grown really as an actor, his imitation of Bobby Darin notwithstanding.
The end shoot out between the good cops and really corrupt cops is still thrilling while remaining in the realm of the possible. I could watch that scene as often as the movie comes on TV. Oh, and for trivia buffs, the movie Kim Basinger and the councilman are watching when Crowe comes to call is not the famous one with the actress Basinger looks a little like, Veronica Lake, or the famous ones with Alan Ladd, but one of Ladd's first credited film roles, This Gun for Hire, which really is not that good. Just thought I'd tell you.
I read the book the movie is based on and the movie is way better. That doesn't often happen. This is the second movie (Mulholland Falls is the other) that tells me LA cops used to beat up any organized crime figure who moved out to LA in the 1950s. Does that mean it really happened?
The other guy in it on the brink of stardom was another Aussie emigre, Guy Pearce (are there no American born actors who can play Americans?), who went on to play in the extraordinary Memento and very good The Count of Monte Cristo. Pierce was Sgt. Edmund Jennings 'Ed' Exley in LA Confidential, who starts straight as an arrow and is seduced into a sort of just corruption. These guys are good, but the glue that holds the production together, the older pro at the top of his game, is Kevin Spacey as Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes.
Spacey's role as Vincennes, who starts off corrupt and self centered but seeks to redeem himself in the turning point of the movie's morality, is nearly the high water mark for Spacey's pretty distinguished career. I first noticed Spacey on TV as Mel Profitt in Wiseguy in 1987. The toes knows. Other great roles were in Henry and June, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Usual Suspects and Se7en. After LA Confidential, however, except for American Beauty, Spacey has not regained the edge or grown really as an actor, his imitation of Bobby Darin notwithstanding.
The end shoot out between the good cops and really corrupt cops is still thrilling while remaining in the realm of the possible. I could watch that scene as often as the movie comes on TV. Oh, and for trivia buffs, the movie Kim Basinger and the councilman are watching when Crowe comes to call is not the famous one with the actress Basinger looks a little like, Veronica Lake, or the famous ones with Alan Ladd, but one of Ladd's first credited film roles, This Gun for Hire, which really is not that good. Just thought I'd tell you.
I read the book the movie is based on and the movie is way better. That doesn't often happen. This is the second movie (Mulholland Falls is the other) that tells me LA cops used to beat up any organized crime figure who moved out to LA in the 1950s. Does that mean it really happened?
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 6:51 PM 
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have to agree, this movie is one of the great ones. Superb cast, great plot, great action - it has it all. I rewatched it fairly recently and hadn't realized Russell Crowe was in it! Spacey is always great to watch - didn't you like that movie he did whose title I can't remember, but he played a guy claiming to be from another planet. I really liked that one!
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