L.A. Confidential: Curtis Hanson weaves a great tale; the writing here is superb, telling a plot that is far from straightforward, thematically rich and full to the brim with complex, interesting characters. The cast clearly appreciates and responds with uniformly great, layered performances; the stand-outs are Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and James Cromwell, but every other name could be here and it would be equally fair. Very carefully done, displaying great art direction and costume design; Dante Spinotti’s camerawork is classic, clean, beautiful.