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In the 1950s, the son of an LA cop makes detective,
and tries to get to the bottom of a set of killings in a late
night diner. What he finds involves corruption within the Police
Force, Mob Influences, Prostitution, and Tabloid Journalism. The
story is well thought out, and properly portrayed. There are many
faces and characters to remember to understand everything, but
in the end, it works out in a way that works, but is not completely
satisfying. Russell Crowe as the slightly dirty cop, Kevin Spacey
as the glory seeking cop, Kim Basinger (who won an Oscar as Best
Supporting Actress for this part, I don't know why) are the major
name players in the movie.
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This is the sort of movie that I'm prepared to dislike. Period movies don't always go over well with me because more often than not, the costumes and setting overwhelm the basic story. Also, when too many critics give a film a "rave review", I'm sure to go in expecting that the critics are wrong. Well, that's not entirely the case here. The movie was chugging along with it's roll out of the corruption and setup, but I wasn't expecting the character reversals by Russell Crowe's and Kevin Spacey's characters. Quite refreshing, actually. Also, the story, based on the book of the same name, doesn't hit us over the head with what's happening, but rather allows the viewer to discover things along the way. The most important shift in the movie's direction from average to above average occurs during the murder of Spacey's character turned this into a rather enjoyable film going experience. Kim Basinger definitely did a good job acting as the prostitute who sees the light, but I personally didn't consider it Oscar Caliber Material.
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