......a crime drama from 1981, starring Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, and thought it was really good.
The Link
I don't know how this movie escaped my cinematic attention, but I found it on NETFLIX and I'm glad I did.
It has little action, beyond investigative police work, and depends largely on character development to move its storyline along.
But I think that it's very worthwhile as a rental for a fan of moviemaking or these actors if you've missed it too.
The vibe pleasingly reminded me of "Chinatown" or "LA Confidential" or even "The Godfather" and I mean those comparisons as high praise.
The detailed attention this flick has for the setting in 1940's Los Angeles and interesting police procedure, plus the fine work of the leading and character actors really put this one over the top for me.
It seems to be based loosely on the famous, yet still unresolved, Black Dahlia murder case.
Don't expect car chases, gunplay, action-filled excitement or a big ending, but rather fine acting of a realistic, gritty screenplay with much attention paid to detail and style.
In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen a better adaptation of what must have been a good crime novel into a good crime movie.
In fact, since I've never read the novel, how good an adaptation this movie is isn't even something I can say with any authority.
So, in fact, I didn't actually say that if you read my wording two sentences above correctly.
"Zodiac" fell a little short for me, but only because I thought it was way too long.
"Hollywoodland" was just OK, I felt it's screenplay and/or direction held it back.
And the recent movie entitled "The Black Dahlia" was less informative and compelling than I had hoped it would be.
I hope all my praise for "True Confessions" will not raise your expectations unreasonably high, because I rented it expecting little and was pleasantly surprised partly because of exactly that initial mindset.
I also strongly and I hope helpfully suggest you watch it with the subtitles turned on, because I believe the 1940's slang, police language and other important dialog will too often be hard to catch and/or understand without your seeing the words.
I noticed that the subtitles were very helpful to me.
Actually, I thought watching this film (with the subtitles on) was much like reading good, rich, pithy and interesting descriptions and dialog from a book, without ever needing to visualize the characters in my mind (since it was so well cast and acted and the pictures were already moving).
I enjoyed it a lot; if you've seen it or give it a try, let us know what you think.
The Link
I don't know how this movie escaped my cinematic attention, but I found it on NETFLIX and I'm glad I did.
It has little action, beyond investigative police work, and depends largely on character development to move its storyline along.
But I think that it's very worthwhile as a rental for a fan of moviemaking or these actors if you've missed it too.
The vibe pleasingly reminded me of "Chinatown" or "LA Confidential" or even "The Godfather" and I mean those comparisons as high praise.
The detailed attention this flick has for the setting in 1940's Los Angeles and interesting police procedure, plus the fine work of the leading and character actors really put this one over the top for me.
It seems to be based loosely on the famous, yet still unresolved, Black Dahlia murder case.
Don't expect car chases, gunplay, action-filled excitement or a big ending, but rather fine acting of a realistic, gritty screenplay with much attention paid to detail and style.
In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen a better adaptation of what must have been a good crime novel into a good crime movie.
In fact, since I've never read the novel, how good an adaptation this movie is isn't even something I can say with any authority.
So, in fact, I didn't actually say that if you read my wording two sentences above correctly.
"Zodiac" fell a little short for me, but only because I thought it was way too long.
"Hollywoodland" was just OK, I felt it's screenplay and/or direction held it back.
And the recent movie entitled "The Black Dahlia" was less informative and compelling than I had hoped it would be.
I hope all my praise for "True Confessions" will not raise your expectations unreasonably high, because I rented it expecting little and was pleasantly surprised partly because of exactly that initial mindset.
I also strongly and I hope helpfully suggest you watch it with the subtitles turned on, because I believe the 1940's slang, police language and other important dialog will too often be hard to catch and/or understand without your seeing the words.
I noticed that the subtitles were very helpful to me.
Actually, I thought watching this film (with the subtitles on) was much like reading good, rich, pithy and interesting descriptions and dialog from a book, without ever needing to visualize the characters in my mind (since it was so well cast and acted and the pictures were already moving).
I enjoyed it a lot; if you've seen it or give it a try, let us know what you think.
