Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Scott LeBrun Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall are compelling and believable as two brothers, Des and Tom Spellacy. Des (De Niro) is a savvy Monsignor with the Catholic Church of L.A., and Tom is a hard driving detective with the L.A.P.D. Tom is soon on the case of Louise Fazenda, a "party girl" who's been hacked into two pieces. The case will involve various characters, chief among them a truly slimy construction magnate played superbly by Charles Durning. The case will even involve the Church, to some extent.Scripted by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, from the latters' novel, this takes its inspiration from the notorious unsolved "Black Dahlia" murder of real life. The material does have real emotional resonance, as well as an enjoyably sordid and sleazy quality as things like prostitution and a stag film factor into the tale. As we will see, the characters are often compromised to one degree or another, even if they're not outright corrupt like the Amsterdam (Durning) character. Deliberately paced, and moody, "True Confessions" benefits from a straightforward approach by director Ulu Grosbard ("Straight Time"). The filmmaking is slick, but doesn't call attention to itself at the expense of spinning a good and meaty yarn. The music by Georges Delerue is affecting without ever becoming overly manipulative.Two moving performances by the two Roberts are the heart and soul of this fine film. The supporting cast is exemplary, with Durning scoring as the vile antagonist. Kenneth McMillan regularly steals his scenes as Toms' cheerfully, mildly sleazy partner Frank Crotty. Ed Flanders, Cyril Cusack, Burgess Meredith, Rose Gregorio, Dan Hedaya, Jeanette Nolan, and Pat Corley all add an indelible presence and gravitas to the proceedings. Be sure to watch for Louisa Moritz, Darwyn Carson, Matthew Faison, Richard Foronjy, and James Hong in small roles.Well worth watching.Seven out of 10.

PimpinAinttEasy This one is probably less well known than THE LAST TYCOON despite the star cast - De Niro, Duvall and Durning. The confrontation scene between Durning and Duvall was great - it was pretty violent and ugly, the two of them sort of exploded on screen. I wish the film had more explosive scenes like that. Despite the understated tone of the movie, I was never bored. And i guess guess that is mainly because of the mesmerizing performances by De Niro and Duvall. De Niro must have done this right after THE RAGING BULL. Here he plays a solemn but ambitious priest in direct contrast to his aggressive detective brother played by Duvall.The film was based on John Gregory Dunne's novel and was adapted by none other than Joan Didion (PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK) and Dunne who was her husband.

edwagreen Terrible film which gives another awful impression of the Catholic church filled with corruption and violence.Robert De Niro as the monsignor certainly gives that high position a bad name. A priest who visits the track and associates himself with undesirables is certainly not a positive role model for the church.In the film, De Niro's brother is played by Robert Duvall, a cop with an ax to grind.We hear stories about companies getting contracts to build churches and schools. There is murder along the way. Charles Durning really adds to this mess in the scene where he is made Catholic lay-man of the year and then goes on a tirade against Duvall,when the latter accuses him of wrong-doing.The Duvall character, as the policeman, is not exactly a study of a choir boy either.The movie is nasty. No one is really depicted as nice. Nearly everyone is frequenting a prostitute played by Rose Gregorio. She turns in a nice supporting performance but was her demise a suicide or murder?

JoeytheBrit I read John Gregory Dunne's novel quite some time ago, and while the details of the tale - other than it's obvious use of the Black Dahlia murder as a fictionalised sub-plot - were no longer clear in my mind when I watched this film, the memory of being deeply impressed by the book were still very clear.You would think a film version written by the novel's author and starring two modern giants of the screen would have success guaranteed, but Ulu Grosbad's adaptation of True Confessions is only partially successful. As you'd expect, the acting is first rate, especially from De Niro, cast against type as a measured, introspective priest, and the recreation of 40s America stands comparison with the likes of L. A. Confidential but, whereas the medium of literature enabled Dunne to bring a good measure of intrigue to the complexities of religious politics and finance, on the screen he struggles to hold the viewer's interest, while the Black Dahlia sub-plot is almost dismissively brushed aside.Despite this, the plot reaches the screen with its intelligence and cynicism intact, relying on human interaction to drive the plot forward. Essentially a dissection of the relationship of two brothers, one a cop (Duvall) the other a sort of 'glamour priest' who weds wealthy couples and is earmarked for good things, the script steadfastly picks apart the threads of the brothers' lives to reveal the sensitivity and honour of the hard-bitten cop and the self-serving ability of the priest that enables him to turn a blind eye to all that he knows is rotten.This is a film for adults. If you like gunplay or violence look elsewhere. But if you want to see a film that asks you to do a little work to understand the motivation and compulsions of its characters then this one will probably be worth a couple of hours of your time.