Easily mistaken for great, but naggingly four star on repeated
viewings, this is a satisfyingly gnarled crime film and a rich
evocation of 1950s Hollywood. It's not much more, though. The
screenplay (by Hanson and Brian Helgeland) is admirably compressed in
plot terms but disappointingly functional when it comes to dialogue
and characterisation. Some terrific scenes (the Lana Turner one,
say), but a lot which offer hard-boiled cliches enlivened only by
powerful acting. Its main failing is the obviousness of the main theme
(image versus reality), as foregrounded with tedious archness by
DeVito's character in the opening voiceover.
