This movie wasn’t going to make anyone happy for two immediate reasons: James Ellroy’s novels are practically impossible to translate to film; and practically all film critics have a chip on their shoulder with Brian De Palma from the reviews I’ve read over the years. At least the ending credits quickly explain to the audience that the infamous murder really happened but it has never been solved. If you’ve followed James Ellroy’s books, you already knew. My immediate opinion? This movie could’ve been much worse given the difficulty of the source material and the director’s reputation. Hence the designation in the headline. On to the crux of this review.
Josh Hartnett is Officer Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert, a relatively good cop (by LA and Ellroy standards), who gets sucked into the cesspool of crime, compromises of conscience and corruption thanks to Sgt. Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart, one of the best actors to play a dirty cop). The movie sets the tone quickly with a flashback of their first meeting during the Zoot Suit Riots after WWII in which the LAPD doesn’t quell the the fighting; the took bets on the outcome with the military’s MPs. Anyway, Lee befriends Bucky, convinces him to participate in a publicity stunt that gets public opinion to vote favorably on a bond for the LAPD. In return, the District Attorney’s office (run by Ellis Loew from LA Confidential) rewards the duo by promoting them to the Warrants division and they’re made partners. Bucky can tell Lee isn’t on the level: he lives in a very nice house for a sargeant’s pay, he put his “girlfriend” Kay (Scarlett Johansson in a rather flat performance) through college and he’s friends with associates of Mickey Cohen (LA’s head of Organized Crime). No serious offenses are being committed so Bucky doesn’t let it worry him, besides, he feels obligated to Lee for all he has gained as 1946 becomes 1947.
Other than the love triangle forming between Kay, Bucky and Lee, life is pretty sweet until the brutal murder of Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia (the name given by the papers since she resembled the actress in Blue Dahlia). The two cops are moved from Warrants to Homicide due to Lee’s clout with the DA. Why? The corpse was found near another crime they were investigating and secondly, Lee never misses an opportunity to raise his prestige in the LAPD. From there on, everybody’s world slowly unravels as Bucky’s investigation reveals how Short’s murder is only a fraction of a larger conspiracy.
If you’re expecting a repeat of LA Confidential, you’ll be disappointed. This movie is shown from the perspective of Bucky, not through the shifting of the three main characters like Ellroy’s novels. But I’ve never read this book so I don’t know how Ellroy wrote it. The revelations of who killed Short, why she was killed and everything else Bucky resolves feel contrived and rushed too. This would have worked out better as a mini-series. Ellroy always has subplots going on with his characters that film can’t capture well due to the time constraints. Otherwise, reading the original novel will probably capture the story and perspective better since Hollywood just can’t recapture its original film noir period.