Film about a bunch of morally grey cops in
Los Angeles in the mid-1950's. Various cops start investigating various cases, which gradually start pulling together and pointing to some corruption on the force. One of the best movies (if not the best) of the entire
1990's, and certianly the best film of the post-
Pulp Fiction-crime/
noir genre. Features a lot of big-name, talented stars:
Kim Basinger,
James Cromwell,
Russel Crowe,
Danny DeVito,
Kevin Spacey, and
Guy Pearce in some dead-on, dare-I-say-perfect roles. The story is superb, the dialog is terrific, the acting is great, and the cinematography is beautiful (the
volumetric lighting in the climactic scene is reason alone to watch the movie repeatedly).
Unfortunately, it was pretty much overlooked by critics and audiences, and got
screwed at the Academy awards thanks to everyone's favorite
movie Titanic, which also came out in 1997.