Movie
Reviews - L
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Directed by:
Curtis Hanson Produced by: Curtis Hanson, Arnon Milchan, Michael G. Nathanson Screenplay by: James Ellroy, Curtis Hanson, Brian Helgeland |
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CAST: Kevin Spacey as Jack Vincennes Russell Crowe as Bud White Guy Pearce as Ed Exley James Cromwell as Dudley Smith David Strathairn as Pierce Patchett Kim Basinger as Lynn Bracken Danny DeVito as Sid Hudgeons Graham Beckel as Dick Stensland Simon Baker Denny as Matt Reynolds Gene Wolande as Ray Pinker Matt McCoy as Brett Chase John Mahon as Police Chief Paul Guilfoyle as Mickey Cohen Ron Rifkin as D.A. Ellis Loew Paolo Seganti as Johnny Stompanato Amber Smith as Susan Lefferts Gwenda Deacon as Mrs. Lefferts |
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L.A. Confidential is a "film noire" about corruption and redemption in the Los Angeles Police Deparment circa 1953. It's very violent and the language is bad. (Don't take the kids.) That being said, this is the best damn movie that this reviewer has seen in years! I've watched it twice and it wouldn't take much arm twisting |
| to get me to go again. The
plot is quite complicated and well-developed. Some of the
lines, if taken individually, sound rather hokey;
however, they hang correctly in the script and the result
is very effective. The characters are outstandingly
developed, and I will bet the farm that this movie will
catapult well-cast Aussie actors Russell Crowe and Guy
Pearce (shown above as L.A.P.D. cops Bud White and Ed
Exley) to the top of their profession in the United
States. Both actors are already famous in Australia,
where Pearce is well-known for his sexy role in the
long-running television soap, "Neighbors," and
currently in "The Man from Snowy River"
miniseries. Crowe, who has made a number of
critically-aclaimed films in Australia, was brought to
America to play against Sharon Stone in "The Quick
and the Dead." I happened to catch him with Bridget
Fonda in "Rough Magic." He exudes the magic
combination of masculinity and sensitivity that have been
the mark of legendary actors since movies began. Kevin Spacey is stylish as celebrity cop Jack Vincennes, technical advisor to a TV police drama (more star quality); Danny DeVito is always a pleasure to watch, this time as Hush-Hush magazine's editor; James Cromwell as Capt. Dudley Smith brings a deceptive homeliness to his role; David Strathairn is the suave Pierce Patchett of the Fleur de Lis club, and Kim Basinger plays his employee Lynn Bracken, a Veronica Lake look-alike for the benefit of Patchett's highly-positioned customers. Ron Rifkin plays D.A. Ellis Lowe (and in the process gets his head stuck in a toilet by our favorite cops). Send e-mail -- tell me what you think of this movie! |
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| "Eight Men. One Summer. Figure it
out." What's to figure out? Well, dear, you could have blown me over with a feather! Some of you, of course, went into this movie totally prepared, already knowing the story line (maybe even saw the play on Broadway). Not me...you know the poster with the guys in tutus doing the Dance of the Little Swans? I thought this was the Ballet Trocadero in concert or something. Well, kinda, but no cigar... What this movie really is, is a story about relationships and enduring friendship among eight gay men (John Glover brilliantly plays two of them, brothers John & James Jeckyll) who meet on various weekends at a beautiful Victorian home belonging to Gregory Mitchell, a choreographer (Stephen Bogardus). The setting is breathtaking; Gregory's home is large and kind, on its own stretch of private eastern beach. His lover, Bobby Brahms (Justin Kirk), is a beautiful young blind man; Arthur Rape (John Benjamin Hickey) and Perry Sellars (Stephen Spinella) are an "old married couple"; Buzz Hauser (Jason Alexander) is the musical-officianado-queen of the bunch, looking particularly fetching (in a hairy kind of way) when he dons a bibbed, frilly apron over his nude pudgy self. When not doing the fashion number he's quoting from a thick book that seems to declare that every important person in the civilized world (except maybe QE2) is gay or lesbian. John is a Britisher with caustic wit and scathing tongue, tolerated by the rest of them perhaps because he has been with them so long; he brings with him a "hot" young dancer, Ramon Fornos (Randy Becker), causing a slightly uncomfortable stir in the group. Later John's ill brother James arrives from England; it's pretty evident why their family name is Jeckyll. Yeah, you get to see seven of them dress up and rehearse for a charity performance. It's not really clear how the non-dancers in the group manage to look so darn good, but hey! This is a movie, right? |
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| Joe Mantello directed Terrence McNally's
Tony Award-winning play, with Cinematography by Alik
Sakharov. - Restricted - Cast:
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| I don't want to give away the plots (and there are a few). There's ample nudity (we're talking full frontal!) and suggested sex. I hope that this genre of movie will progress to the point that the scriptwriters don't feel the need to have their characters continually remind us that they are gay. (I don't know any "straight" people who sit around talking about the fact that they're straight...) The cast was good, and Jason Alexander (who also performed the role on stage) turned in a fine performance. |