The supporting cast—which includes James Cromwell, David Straithairn, Danny DeVito, and Paul Guilfoyle—is hard to argue with. It's fun seeing a bunch of largely Brit and Aussie actors have fun with hard-boiled American pulp/noir clichés. Cromwell in particular is just amazing. So, agreed, good cast. But then … what the hell was the big deal with this movie, again? Why was this considered such an incredible, Oscar®-worthy film? Based on a James Ellroy book and directed by the same guy who made Losin' It, this is hardly highbrow stuff. It's extremely similar to Mulholland Drive, yet no one ever talks about that film. It's a transparently "big Hollywood" attempt to do a Reservoir Dogs-type thing and capitalize on some perceived "indie" sensibility. And Kim Basinger, while surely easy on the eyes, delivers a performance about as deep as the script … a memorable performance, perhaps, but not something I'd throw awards at. The film is quite paint-by-numbers until about 90 minutes in, when it suddenly gets really good and begins to deliver a number of genuinely shocking moments. I like that it makes no attempt to clarify who the "good guys" and "bad guys" are … but praising a Hollywood film for indulging some ambiguity is like praising McDonald's for offering salads. Ultimately L.A. Confidential feels like it should have been a great cable series instead. In essence, it's "Miami Vice" set in 1950s L.A.—great concept, for TV. I enjoyed it, but I had to sort of imagine it was a very engaging 2-hour pilot for a TV series with a surprisingly great cast, as opposed to the devastating, incredible Hollywood masterpiece mainstream critics seem to still think it is.
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