12 Great Movies That Are Visually Flat
3. L.A. Confidential
LA Confidential is one of the most enduring films of the late 90s. An excellent tribute to Film Noir, LA Confidential benefits from a brilliant screenplay, an endlessly suspenseful plot and phenomenal performances from Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, Kevin Spacey, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and the always underrated Guy Pearce.
It's a shame about the flat visuals though. Pretty much everything else in LA Confidential is superbly executed, so as a result the direction lacking in flair is rather jarring. Director Curtis Hanson did a solid job with the action scenes, but much of the time the rest of the movie is just straightforward, uninteresting shot-reverse shot cinematography.
There is no denying that LA Confidential is a great movie, but with stronger direction it could've been an all-time masterpiece.