L.A. Confidential

Danny DeVito plays vile Sid for more laughs than such a sleazy type deserves, while Kim Basinger portrays a woman disappointed by life but still hopeful for salvation.

The ensemble cast is flawless, anchored by two intense young Aussies, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.

Adapted from a novel said to be unadaptable and set in a genre that has seemed increasingly played out, it brings clarity and life to its art and to life. That's a pretty good definition of a masterpiece, isn't it?

One of the toughest, freshest movies of the year.

All the cops are corrupt in different ways. But as the murk and muck of the story deepens and thickens, three of them rouse themselves out of their moral torpor and rediscover their vocation, if not exactly their honor.