Good Cop, Bad Cop: L.A. Confidential

A sizzling 1940's-style film noir from director Curtis Hanson that was adapted from a James Ellroy novel. Det. Bud White (Russell Crowe) is the badass detective who is pretty violent in his justice, Sgt. Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is the technical advisor or something behind a Dragnet-like show, and Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is the lieutenant detective who is trying to follow in his father's footsteps. What links these three men? They all are a part of the LAPD. Co-starring is Danny DeVito is the writer of the Hush-Hush magazine which Vincennes does stints for, Kim Basinger as a call girl who likes White, James Cromwell as the crooked head of the LAPD, and David Strathairn as a millonaire who makes his money styling prostitutes to look like movie stars. Anyways, one robbery and murder at the Nite Owl Cafe sets everything in motion, partnering up Vincennes and Exley, and, eventually, White and Exley. A brilliant score punctuates the movie, and a good script flows through the character's mouths. A genuine film noir, with a gritty feel with a good sense of irony, especially the contrast between the perfect city that L.A. is advertised as, and what it is. A-