L.A. Confidential (1997) directed by Curtis Hanson
I watched the film twice now and the second watch felt very much so needed as I enjoyed the experience a whole lot more. I still feel like the movie begins in a clichéd manner which was probably what set the tone for me during that first viewing. Good cop with childhood trauma helps helpless woman out of a domestic violence situation, angry white cops beat up minorities for revenge... And I'm not talking about the situations themselves being clichéd, not at all, but rather how they're presented is what makes them receive an eyeroll of a reaction out of me. It's also lowkey problematic how at first it is made seem that Guy Pearce's character's going to be the antagonist of the film, while Crowe's the one who we're gonna be following and rooting for, thus romanticizing doing the wrong thing and the "snitches get stitches" mentality, when in reality we should all hope for more policeman such as Exley and reject anything less.
Overall, the story felt convoluted on the first watch, but everything clicked together upon a second viewing. In fact, I really wish there was a longer/mini-series version to the film, it would've suited it perfectly. The dialogue is quick and clever, and although that can be to a fault, this time I thought it worked and felt seamless 95% of the time, which is more than enough. Most of the side plots had somewhat of a fulfilling payoff, but what I most enjoyed was their interconnectedness and the whys and hows of that. There's just so many scenes and sequences that are very memorable (Kevin Spacey's death *chef's kiss*), all thanks to the writing that builds the bridge for the story to go in all kind of different directions.
The biggest difference however between my two viewings of the film is my feelings towards the characters, especially the three main ones, who by the way resemble the three characters from
Platoon quite a bit. This time they felt more defined and contrasted each other pretty well. They each have different motivations that feel alive and make their actions much more interesting to follow, and it's all summed up in their answers to why they became a cop, to which Kevin Spacey's character responds "I don't remember anymore". There are even moments where each of these three are put in situations that force them to contradict their driving purpose and motivations, and we see the clear effect that that has on 'em, so it's impressive that there is a constant maintain of all the details and nuances that make these characters. All in all, all of the characters have active motivations rendering them into constantly moving pieces regardless of their importance, and that's what makes the interconnectedness and complicatedness of the story so exciting.
I still have some annoyances that survived from my first watch, like the lack of consequence Crowe faces for his behavior throughout the movie, which was mainly why I hated his character so much after the first watch. There's his backstory that puts his actions into perspective, but it doesn't forgive the absence of repercussions that should undoubtedly be there. I mean this guy almost kills the district attorney, thrashes the police office, and beats up a detective without anyone batting an eye. It's the same thing with Dudley, he has too many followers, kills too many people, and creates too much of a ruckus for anything to be believable. Its absurd that this man has this much power, especially when there's not enough there to gain for his followers to do his dirty work and indulge in all the craziness they end up in.
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