LA Confidential

Well, to be honest, the weekend past wasn't all work and no play.

Saw LA Confidential after a 7 year gap, my last viewing was via a less than stellar VHS copy. Seen with renewed clarity via a Remastered Special Edition DVD, it's a joy making it's re acquaintance.

My first James Ellroy book was LA Confidential, my introduction to his dark, murky and twisted take on LA circa the '50s. It has all the familiar Ellroy trappings of bent cops, mysterious femme fatales and truly Machiavellian bad guys circumnavigating the seedy underbelly of the City Of Angels.

Director Curtis Hanson generally stays faithful to the book in his movie adaption but out of necessity, some parts of Ellroy's densely plotted book had to be trimmed out to fit a manageable running time. Even then, the twisty turns its plot takes demands your attention.

A dream cast of Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce and Kevin Spacey flesh out Ellroy's 3-man narrative arc that proceeds on a twisted, blood soaked trajectory as they become involved in cases that intersect, bisect and finally collide in a spectacular bullet-riddled mass. Kim Basinger, Danny De Vito and James Cromwell give able support.

Damn if it doesn't make me wanna pick up the book again.

After my exams of course.....