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This is a film that comes in one of my
favorite years for films, and it definitely fits into the mold of
enjoyment. This take on 1950's Hollywood police is a bit
mystery, bit drama, bit noir and all really well done. We journey with 3 different officers in the Hollywood PD (Crowe, Spacey, and Pearce) as they try and discover the secrets in a late night murder hit on a local cafe, which also included the death of an officer. Each man has his own motives and style in getting to the truth. As the story progresses, their differences cause rifts, while at the same time they learn to work together and use one another. As a film, this one was on the up and up, but as a story, it didn't quite hit with me. The tension was too minimal, and the mystery surrounding the case did not have me thinking too hard. So, while very enjoyable to watch, it wasn't as engaging to me as I was hoping, and thus takes a bit of a hit. Likewise, it falls into the mold of corrupt cop and detective story that has been done a few times in roughly the same way. But where it wasn't as engaging story-wise, the acting was excellent from the leads to the bit parts. I never once was in doubt of what these characters were thinking and feeling as the story went on. Spacey is an actor I know I can count on, and Pearce hasn't let me down, but the real surprise was Crowe, whom I normally dislike. I thought Crowe did an excellent job as Wendell White, the "dumb" brute cop who is all testosterone. He brought humanity and softness to a role that could have been just another thug cop. The Cinematography was really great, especially the lighting. And definite props must be given to the props and wardrobe departments for bringing to life the 1950's in a wholly realistic way. In all this is a very good film that wasn't quite as great as I'd heard, but really enjoyable and really well made. 8/10 |
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