L.A. Confidential (1997)

Directed by Curtis Hanson.

Characters Power One of my All-Time Favorite Movies

Bud White. Jack Vincennes. Ed Exley. When I see these names, I don't think of easy heroes who are black-and-white good or bad, but of people I know and I've met, people I can see myself being, people who are human. It is exactly this complexity of character that makes the trio of "heroes" stand out in Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential. Acted by Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, and Guy Pearce, respectively, a better contrast of three characters who work in the same field, any of whom could have held together their own story, would be nearly impossible to find. Put the three together in one powerful, complex, involving, and entertaining plot, and you get a movie unmatched by few of its peers.

L.A. Confidential is a tightly constructed narrative, produced, written, directed, and acted excellently. It demands that the viewer pay attention, not assuming for one second that its audience may consist of dummies. That audience is rewarded with an environment oozing with atmosphere. You can hear the '50's soundtrack everywhere you go, and when the period's pop music isn't playing, Jerry Goldsmith's powerful horn-based score is. L.A.'s seedy underworld contrasts perfectly with all the nice suits, the glamour, and the hairstyles of the ladies. And all of this serves as the perfect set-up and backdrop for getting to know the main characters: LAPD cops who, while investigating the circumstances of a homocide case, find themselves caught up in a crime web much bigger than they could've imagined.

Each of the three characters are presented and developed masterfully. Since they are essentially each following their own paths on the case, each with their own methods, clues, and deductions, we get to see the stark contrasts in their characterizations. As the movie goes on, we really get to know them. The viewer can pick a hero to identify with or cheer for most. Will it be the brutish Officer White? The slick Sgt. Vincennes? Or the ambitious Lt. Exley? Maybe the viewer won't root for any of them; none of them are presented as perfect, and all of them have flaws which could easily make them despicable. However, there is a heroism that does lie within each of them, and that's why we're encouraged to be behind them. The film presents three main characters with many layers.

Officer Bud White fools many into believing he's a hot-headed brawns-over-brains thug who has a soft spot for damsels-in-distress. Heck, he's even fooled himself in to believing that. But as Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) knows, he's smarter than he gives himself credit for. When it seems the Nite Owl case has been all wrapped up, it's White who just "feels" that there's still something missing, and continues the investigation for that reason. He is the first to the house of Susan Lefferts' mother, and to begin to piece together the association between his slain former partner, Dick Stensland, and an ex-cop-turned-muscle-for-hire "Buzz" Meeks. White pursues the truth for the most simple reasons: vengeance for his partner, and safety for the women who deserve better than to be caught up in all this. He sees himself as a savior of these women, someone who beats the woman-beaters. His moment of the true discovery of his own self-worth comes when he actually strikes a woman himself in a jealous anger, and when he realizes that his partner was corrupt. His redemption comes by putting aside his hatred for Exley and teaming up with him to bring the true criminals to justice.

Sgt. Jack Vincennes is famous for a couple of reasons: he is the consultant for the "Dragnet"-based t.v. show, "Badge of Honor," and his drug busts of Hollywood celebrities usually lands him on the cover of Hush-Hush magazine, a tabloid put out by Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito). He has become somewhat of a celebrity in his own right, and he certainly enjoys it. He is dressed in dapper suits, dances with Hollywood's rich-and-famous, and enjoys payoffs from Hudgens, in exchange for helping to set up some great cover stories. An experienced member of the force, Vincennes' number of years in service have only served to empty his soul. In direct contrast to White's and Exley's why-I-became-a-cop stories, Vincennes' own answer to that question, "Why did you become a cop?", is a long pause before admitting, sadly, "I don't know." Realizing what he has become, he involves himself in the Nite Owl case perhaps as his own attempt at a redemption. Vincennes' leads go through "Fleur de Lis," the movie star look-alike prostitute ring run by Pierce Patchett (David Strathairn), and one of its murdered employees, Matt Reynolds. Vincennes does the right things, but in the end it costs him his life. But it's not before he sets up Capt. Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) by mentioning the mysterious name, "Rollo Tomasi." Just knowing that by merely saying the name it could eventually lead the captain to his downfall, he passes with a smile on his face.

Ed Exley, who is made into a lieutenant detective through the course of the film, appears to be the most moral man of the trio, but, as is one of the points of the movie, appearances are deceiving. His main goal is to live up to the reputation of his slain-in-the-line-of-duty father, and he plays by the rules in order to climb the ranks. However, rules are more important to him than any unspoken code of ethics in the police department or any comraderie, as illustrated by the fact that he says "no" when asked if he would beat confessions out of a known guilty suspect, and the fact that he stood witness against fellow cop Stensland for his instigation of a wrongful beating. Exley is despised by the other cops for his career-before-all-else modus operandi, especially by Stensland's partner Bud White. Of the three, he is the most seemingly self-assured, nearly arrogant, and only Lynn Bracken eventually frustrates this side of him when she tells him why she finds White a better man. Ultimately, Exley's true motives for bringing real justice to the Nite Owl case are revealed to himself when he remembers that he joined the force to catch the crooks who always seem to get away. He remembers that seeking that justice is a far stronger call than his career motives; thus, when White asks him if he's willing to tear down his career to bring down Capt. Smith, Exley's reply is, "with a wrecking ball." Yet, even at the end of the movie, Exley's astute political-mindedness is able to assist in spinning the events to his career's favor.

In fact, not a performance is wasted in this movie. Kim Basinger won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but everyone deserved recognition for incredible performances, from Cromwell to DeVito to Strathairn.

As I mentioned, one of the main points of the movie was about appearances: how '50's Los Angeles tries to hide its ugly criminal and police problems with glamour, and how the characters all live under their own masks. White's mask is unintentional, Vincennes' is a honed-in show, and Exley's is calculated. As we look through these masks, we can see strong characters, and it's these characters and everything about them that I love about this movie. Because even after several viewings, when the great plot twists no longer surprise me, and there's no detail of the movie's story that I didn't catch, and no loose end left loose for me, I can always still look forward to watching it to see those characters, to watch them unfold and develop, to know their strengths and weaknesses, and to root for them... all of them.

Rating: 10/10

©Jeffrey Chen, Mar. 11, 2001

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