Movie Reviews

There's not much in the way of "deeper meaning" or depth in L.A. Confidential -- the plot is really pretty cut-and-dry and linear. What sets it apart though, I think, is that it's much more complex than your ordinary cop drama. There are quite a large number of important characters throughout the film, and each one has an important role within the story. If you're not paying attention and keeping track of everyone's name, things could get a little confusing. The payoff, though, is that there's a really tight story here, and the extra complexity perhaps makes it more rewarding than a simpler plot would've been.

What I found to be most interesting about L.A. Confidential was how the story's focus was not necessarily just on the crimes (or series of crimes) that the police were investigating, but how it paid a lot of attention to the relationships and conflicts experienced within the police department itself. Sure, most cop-dramas usually involve some kind of conflict between the cops themselves, but here I think that was really the focus of the story, and was actually more interesting than the investigation stuff.

Other things I liked included the look and feel of the period-setting (early 1950's, I think) and the tabloid-press angle (Danny DeVito plays a tabloid journalist who helps Kevin Spacey's cop character along in his narcotics investigation, with the understanding that DeVito gets to be the first on the crime-scene to take photos). An excellent cast of actors here, too.