Top 250. Big ”Los Angeles Secrets”
“Just don't start doing good deeds, boy. You have no practice.(Los Angeles Secrets).Good cop, bad cop, corrupt cop, beautiful blonde, shootouts, shootouts, shootouts ... And then it's all over, and someone with someone will go into the sunset to start a new life. How many times have we seen this on screen? Often. Seen and forgot. But Los Angeles Secrets is a special case. Because we should definitely hear Kevin Spacey chuckle and say:This is Lana Turner. And we fucking gotta see someone ride off into the sunset again. Because really good movies are still rare.  50s of the last century. Los Angeles cops, glamorous Los Angeles and Los Angeles expensive prostitutes. Three cops. Believing in nothing but his fists, Bud White , who nevertheless longs for some kind of justice. Well-mannered and correct Ed Exley in anticipation of a brilliant career. Charismatic and arrogant Jack Vincennes , an advisory police show and not too choosy about the means to achieve his goals. A mass murder occurs in the cafe, which is believed to be a local mobster Mickey Cohen . All three main characters find themselves embroiled in an investigation and are forced, upon learning something very unattractive about their leadership, to choose which side to stay on. Detectives go out to an elite network of prostitutes who have undergone plastic surgery to make them look like Hollywood stars as much as possible. All three get to know the dazzling Lynn Braiken , like two drops of water similar to the movie star Veronica Lake. And a war begins not only against corruption among colleagues, but also for the girl.  James Ellroy's self-titled bestseller was released in 1990, and in 1997, Warner Brothers began production of a film adaptation. The director's chair was entrusted to Curtis Hanson. Before that, he shot the thrillers "Wild River" and "Bedroom Window", which the producers of the project liked. Hanson and screenwriter Brian Helgeland have adapted the book for the screen.  The casting was nervous because Hanson insisted on two little-known actors from the end of the world - Australian Guy Pearce for the role of Exley and New Zealander Russell Crowe for the role of White . But the studio made concessions to him, and for the rest of the roles Hanson invited the actors with the big names. The role of Vincennes was played by Kevin Spacey, who had already won his first Oscar by that time. Kim Basinger was cast as Lynn with sniper precision.Danny DeVito and Ron Rifkin also starred among the famous actors in the film. The future Oscar nominee David Strathairn played a small role. And in the very memorable role of the unemployed actor, the future star of the series "Mentalist" ( Mentalist ) Simon Baker appeared. Los Angeles Secrets was released in 1998 and paid back four times its not-so-modest $ 35 million budget.  The Film Academy gave the film nine nominations for Oscars -Best Film of the Year,Best Director,Best Cinematography< / i>(Dante Spinotti),Best Composer(Jerry Goldsmith),Best Production Designer,Best Editing,Best Sound. And two nominations were won - Kim Basinger won a Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and Harold Hanson and Brian Helgelend b>won theBest Adapted Screenplaycategory. The film also received three Golden Globes .  It would seem that Kim had a very simple role - an expensive elite prostitute, smart, brave, in love. The role did not seem to require genius. But some miracle happened. Basinger didn't just play a 50s woman in Hollywood, she was a 50s woman. She was nothing like our contemporary, the famous movie star and wife of Alec Baldwin. No, she was a dazzling Lynn Braiken from 50s Los Angeles. Only Kim herself knows how she did it.  Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe have opened their way to big cinema. Crowe played what he will play many times later, and always good. Perhaps in terms of the plot, more chemistry was planned between him and Pierce than between both of them and Basinger , but this also worked for the benefit of the project.  A separate story - Kevin Spacey . He got the most interesting and controversial male role, and Spacey of the 90s was incredibly charismatic. And he easily outplayed two of his at that time not yet eminent colleagues, having received many awards from film critics.  Curtis Hanson didn’t go for the trivial route, making a black and white film for those who would like to make sure it’s genuine neo-noir. No, the film is in color, and there is no noir speculation at all. Perhaps this is the main secret of success - no platitudes. The viewer is waiting for them, he is ready for them, but even when you watch the tape for the umpteenth time, there is a feeling of novelty. The film is full of witty and juicy dialogues, most of which were then taken apart into quotes. Secrets of Los Angeles and 16 years after its release remains one of the best examples of the genre. Perhaps unsurpassed. Unfortunately, the director no longer filmed anything that was not only equivalent, but even distant close to his masterpiece.  We will not tell you who turned out to be a good guy and who was a bad guy, because in reality everything is not so simple. We will not tell you who and with whom drove off into the sunset in a car. You should see it yourself if you haven't.  “Someone gets all the honors, and someone gets a former prostitute and a trip to Arizona.” Previous reviews-annotations for films from Top 250 : 1. Ode to Requiem for a Dream 2. Leafing through the "Memory Diary" 3. In the "Society of Dead Poets" 4. The charm of "Casablanca" 5. Living "Groundhog Day" 6. Try "Catch Me If You Can" 7. Listening to The Silence of the Lambs 8. Aroma of "Magnolia" 9. You Can't Kill a Mockingbird 10. The fate of Schindler's List To be continued ... The Topic of Article: Top 250. Big ”Los Angeles Secrets”. |
