L.A. Confidential, based on the novel of the same name by James Ellroy, is a densely plotted film that pays homage to the kinds of noir pictures that also embrace labyrinth-esque plot. It is not easily followed - especially on a first viewing. But the brilliance of Curtis Hanson's movie is that none of it matters; like Chinatown before it, there's too much to relish; be it the production values, or the great performances from Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce. The movie's target is Hollywood excess, and the investigation of a diner shooting provides the film with a backbone with which to explore every facade of the dishonest and disturbing city that lies beneath all the glitz and glamour. As a crime movie, L.A. Confidential is never anything but gripping, but it also works as an action flick (wonderful action scenes) and as a buddy cop movie, too, as Crowe, Spacey and Pearce's very different cops must learn to work together to ensure justice.