Unseen Cinema - L.A. Confidential

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Directed by: Curtis Hanson

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe

Based upon the novel by James Ellroy

Everything is suspect...

Everyone is for sale...

And nothing is what it seems.






Last year, I posted my first entry in a feature I entitled Unseen Cinema (it was on Zodiac, for those new to the blog).  As I'm hoping to blog more in 2016, I plan on keeping that feature ongoing, hopefully being able to do at least one entry a month.

As with Zodiac, I ignored L.A. Confidential mainly due to the cast.  I've never really been a fan of Spacey or Crowe, and so I've tended to just gloss over this film.  Thankfully (once again to friends on Twitter), I decided to give this film a shot, as it was recommended to me by multiple people.  And I'm very glad I did, as I loved it.

Based loosely on the 1990 James Ellroy novel, L.A. Confidential follows 3 police officers of the LAPD during the early '50s and shows how the limelight of Hollywood and the corruption of the police intersected.

The three main officers we follow are Detective Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Spacey), whose claim to fame is being the technical advisor to Badge of Honor, a popular police procedural show of the time, Officer Bud White (Crowe), an officer who gets used mostly for muscle work, and newly appointed Detective Lieutenant Ed Exley (Pearce), an officer who is trying to live up to his police officer father, whose unsolved murder in the line of duty fuels his ambition, and is willing to make enemies to get to where he wants.

The Nite Owl murders is the investigation that brings our trio of characters together, and as they investigate it, a bigger mystery begins to unravel.

Going to stop there plot-wise, as I don't want to venture into spoiler territory.  I will say that the movie plays at a brisk pace and as the investigation continues, some twist and turns take place as the road darkens.

The story is great, and I really want to watch it again soon.  There is not one role that is out of place, and the supporting cast is phenomenal.  Kim Basinger won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award as Lynn Bracken.  Rounding out the cast are James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, and David Strathairn.

The movie is quite phenomenal, and I'm sad I put off watching it for so long.  Being a fan of film noir and crime drama, this is the modern day pinnacle, even with it being almost 20 years old.  If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it. 

Don't be like me, and judge a movie by the cast.  I've now visited two films that are modern classics that I didn't want to see because of the cast.  Sometimes you need to look past that.  I'm glad I did.  5/5

"This is the Zodiac speaking..."

I'm hoping this will be a first post in an ongoing series, in which I finally get around to some of the Unseen Cinema in my life.  New theatrical releases, as well as anything within the last 2-3 years, I probably won't cover (but may review, depending on my mood and what I thought of it).  Also, for the readers who do decide to venture to my little blog, bear with me.  I am not a master wordsmith.

                                       ZODIAC (2007)

As much as I like true crime (both movies and books), as well as the mystery behind the Zodiac Killer, I avoided this film due to the cast.  I'm not a huge Robert Downey Jr (even thought I can't really think of another actor who could bring Tony Stark to life like he has) or Jake Gyllenhaal fan, so them having top billing kind of just had me push it away.

Thankfully to the awesomeness of the interwebs and Twitter, I've made a few friends who are into movies as much as I am, and based upon their recommendations, I seeked out this film.  On top of that, I got an awesome deal on the blu-ray on Amazon, only paying $4.99 for it.

Based upon Robert Graysmith's book Zodiac, the movie follows San Francisco Chronicle employees Graysmith and Paul Avery and SFPD Inspectors Toschi and Armstrong as they search for the killer known as the Zodiac.  For some, obsession eventually takes over.

I'm sad I decided to avoid this film for the past 8 years, as I loved it.  The film brings to life 1970s San Francisco, and you feel like you are part of the investigation as the movie progresses.  Fincher does a magnificent job, and this has easily become my favorite film of his.  Each actor plays their role magnificently, and no one out shines anyone.  I will say the best performance is Mark Ruffalo, who portrays Inspector Toschi.

Even the minor roles are played great, and this film has one heck of a supporting cast.  Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, and Dermot Mulroney are just some of actors who play bit parts that have significance to the story.

But best of all: John Carroll Lynch as main suspect Arthur Leigh Allen.  He brings a calmness and eeriness to the character in each scene he is present.

There are two scenes that have stuck with me, which is always a good sign to me, that a movie has that kind of impact on my memory.  The first scene is also the films most brutal: the Zodiacs attack at Lake Berryessa.  If you've seen the movie, you know this scene.  The second scene is closer to the end, where Graysmith visits Bob Vaughn (portrayed by Charles Fleischer) to gain some additional information on a potential suspect.  What starts out as a hopeful visit has a very eerie and sudden twist.

Also worth noting is how Fincher does the time jumps, as this film takes place throughout the '70s.  Days and weeks turn into months, which eventually turn into years.  My favorite is the one late in the film, as we jump 4 years into the future with a black screen as the music and news tidbits of the era play over it.

I 'm not sure how much of the film was fictionalized, if any, and just as the case remains unsolved, the movie doesn't give us an answer to the identity of Zodiac.  But, as Graysmith's two books on the subject have revealed, I truly believe Allen was the man behind one of the greatest unsolved crimes of the 20th century.

For a film that has little any action and a running time of almost 3 hours, the film flys by.  I never really looked at the time, and as the movie was winding down, I was surprised by how quickly it seemed to be ending.  I am looking forward to watching the two documentaries that are bonus features, just to expand upon what the movie covers.