Corrupt Cops? Again?

Think about it. You know the story. Our hero discovers some kind of plot - that everything's not as clear cut as "they" want you to believe, and the closer he (or she) gets to the truth, the more apparent it becomes that it's been some trusted friend or lover or employer or whatever behind the scheme all along. And then we all go, "Oh my God, I can't believe it was him! His own (insert any of the following: brother, sister, boss, wife, lover, dog, whatever)!"

This, however, does not automatically a bad story make. The "traitor amongst us" theme has led to some really good movies, books, etc. in the past. Basically, it comes down to how it's handled. In "L.A. Confidential," the background situation is about as color-by-the-numbers as it can be: Police captain and cohorts come across a small fortune in drugs, temptation kicks in Ü the law is no longer on your side.

Sure, you can yell at me if you want for spoiling the movie now, but the important thing in "L.A. Confidential" isn't the revelation. It's what surrounds it. In "Witness" it was a way to explore Amish life and the idea of the modern world versus the Old World. Here, it's an opportunity to look at the Los Angeles of the past, a time just after World War II when things were supposedly brighter, simpler and easier. And Los Angeles is the territory of writer James Ellroy, on whose novel of the same name the movie is based.

Ellroy is renowned for his detective fiction, one of the best and most widely read in the business. His book is an intricate affair, with multiple sub-plots and characters, some of which had to be eliminated for the focus of the film, and most notably, strikingly realistic dialogue which lends itself quite nicely to the screenplay format. And it's the way that dialogue, as well as the characters behind it, is handled that make the movie worth watching.

The real allure of "L.A. Confidential" is its stars. Australian actors Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce both turn in fantastic performances as police officers with violently opposed methods and personalities which come together for a great effect when they get together long enough for their own brand of the good-cop/bad-cop routine. Crowe plays Bud White, the policeman with little care for protocol, but a strong desire for justice. Pearce is the up-and-coming young detective who seems to care more about making a reputation for himself than friends. Separately, on screen, they're great. Put them together, and it becomes riveting. Plus, I always think it's great when a foreign actor can pull off an American accent so well. (Think Tim Roth.)

Then there's Kevin Spacey, who plays the celebrity cop, adviser to a television show glamorizing the LAPD. It's great to see him in such a non-violent and non-threatening role, and, yes, he pulls it off just fine.

Kim Basinger plays a hooker dressed to look like Veronica Lake and she's got a pillow she made herself with the state of Arizona on it. For some reason, the local audience at the screening seemed to find her constant references to Bisbee hilarious (that's where her character is originally from). Chalk it up to the thrill of local recognition, I guess.

Danny Devito is a sleazy tabloid journalist who gets killed like almost everyone else in the movie does.

In fact, the climactic scene looks a lot like the video game "Doom" where you just run around shooting anything that moves. Any thought about the moral implications of this scene is best dismissed by the viewer.

At the end of the movie, Guy Pearce, our hero, sits and explains everything that's happened to a committee of higher-ups -æa thinly-veiled way of educating the apparently confused audience. Now, I won't go too far into the thing about how a story should be able to speak for itself, without needing someone to explain it at the end, because that should be pretty self-evident. It's the characters and their interaction that make this movie worth seeing and not the plot. "L.A. Confidential" is a film that succeeds through details, through off-hand comments and smaller scenes.

At the end of the film, Kim Basinger points out, "Some guys get the whole world, and some guys just get ex-hookers and a free trip to Arizona."

Well, you won't get the whole world with this movie and you're already in Arizona, but if nothing else, at least you can get ex-hookers from "L.A. Confidential."