Brian Helgeland

Clint Eastwood embraced growing older and more fragile in this leisurely paced and thoughtful cop film based on Michael Connelly’s novel. Eastwood himself had grown older and wiser, both as an actor, a producer, and a director. Even though I guessed fairly early on who the killer was and the film ran a little long, this film is about the journey. Paced much like Line of Fire, it also is about the character as much as the crimes, and that, coupled with the charisma of Eastwood, makes this a show more very good film.

Clint Eastwood is legendary FBI profiler Terry McCaleb. He is tracking a serial killer known as “Code Killer” as this film opens. Leaving Terry messages written in blood at each crime scene, Terry’s prey is enjoying the chase. When McCaleb finally has him within reach during a foot pursuit, Terry suffers a heart attack so massive that only a heart transplant saves his life, forcing his retirement from the Bureau. That’s when the killings stop.

Taking the advice of his cardiologist, Bonnie (Angelica Huston), Terry takes life easy on his boat. Jeff Daniels is excellent as his next door pal, Buddy. Things are going smoothly in the immediate days after the transplant until the darkly beautiful, earthy but sexy Graciella (Wanda De Jesus) shows up wanting the former FBI Agent to look into the murder of her sister. Since it appears to be a random act of violence during a robbery, and Terry has severe doubts as to whether he is even up to such a task, he tries to decline. But empathy for Graciella and the son who no longer has a mother, coupled with his attraction to her, make turning her down problematic. When he discovers the heart beating in his chest belonged to the murdered woman, honor and guilt set him on the trail once again.

Buddy becomes Terry’s sidekick as he slowly gets back up to speed. This is a more mature Eastwood. He shows that Terry realizes he is not the man he might once have been, while at the same time hoping he can get part of what he’s lost back if he can survive the chase. Paul Rodriguez gives a very funny performance as exasperated LA Detective Arrango, who believes Terry should have remained retired, and wants him out of his case. Terry still has connections, however, including the pretty Tina Lifford in a nice role. It is obvious she and Terry had more than a casual relationship in the past and she gives him more leeway than she probably should in his pursuit of justice for his donor’s killer.

Terry begins to have feelings for Graciella and though some critics at the time found Clint’s performance in the brief love scene rather stoic, his reaction — or rather lack of one — at Graciella’s advances in the scene are in keeping with his condition, and the fear about what might happen. He is already having health complications brought on by his investigation. As his old nemesis returns and Terry discovers the reason for all the killings, it complicates matters no end, both investigation-wise, and in his personal life, which have become intertwined.

Eastwood gives a thoughtful performance as an actor and adds some humor and good music as director to round out this entertaining film. His final exchange with someone after a somewhat lengthy chase and confrontation with the killer, end the film on a high note. Like Steve McQueen, Eastwood can elevate a good movie to seem a little better than it is, which is exactly what he does here. Not a fantastic film, but a very, very good one. show less

James Ellroy believed that L. A. Confidential, third in his quartet of novels chronicling his beloved hometown during its post-1945 boom years, was unfilmable. It was too complex – too many characters, too many subplots, too intricately braided together – and far, far too dark. Filled with corruption and blackmail, drugs and violence, soured ideals and broken dreams, it was a tale without a single sympathetic character, never mind a hero. It would, Ellroy believed, remain tied to the show more printed page, too difficult for any screenwriter to adapt, and too toxic for any Hollywood producer to go near.

Ellroy, as he graciously admits in his introduction to this published screenplay of the novel, was wrong. Brian Helgeland, a fellow son of LA, distilled the novel into a script, assisted by director-to-be Curtis Hanson, who went on to make L. A. Confidential into one of the definitive modern examples of film noir and one of the definitive movies of the 1990s. The movie is awash in superbly realized period details (the cars, the clothes, the guns, the streetscapes, and even the furniture) and ablaze with star power (Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and Kevin Spacey as the leads; Danny de Vito, Kim Basinger, James Cromwell, and David Strathairn in support). It’s so visually engrossing that it’s easy to overlook, when you’re watching it, just how good the writing is.

Reading the screenplay on the page lets you focus on just that. The dialogue snaps, crackles, and pops, revealing (without ever resorting to speechifying) the multiple shades of corruption, and the multiple shades of slightly tarnished nobility, that define the main characters. The scenes (mostly short) move crisply, and – even without the action on screen – the intertwined threads of the narrative come alive. Superb film . . . brilliant screenplay . . . fascinating book. show less

Ti prende, eccome se ti prende. Un librro serratissimo nella scrittura. Pur avendo un intreccio molto complicato non ti perdi e resti attaccato al libro fino alla fine. Spettacolare. Un inciso. Da questo libro è stato tratto anche il film, e il film è uno dei pochi casi che non tradisce la bellezza del libro

Contrived, but well written and perfectly readable.