In post-war L.A., Desmond Spellacy (Robert De Niro) is the well-connected monsignor in the Los Angeles archdiocese. His older brother is LAPD Detective Tom Spellacy (Robert Duvall). They are both entrenched in the corrupt city. Tom was a bagman and Desmond is always horse trading among the sinful elites. The body of a young woman cut in two pieces is found on a hillside.

This is inspired by the 1947 Black Dahlia murder. The acting is impeccable. The cast is rock solid. The movie spends a lot of time painting a picture of the setting and the brothers. As a mystery, it is a straight short road without any interesting twists and turns. I can't really even call it a mystery. It is actually a relationship movie. The dead body is more or less a distraction. With a big time Black Dahlia story, one expects a better crime mystery investigation. The actors and their performances are beyond reproach.

Robert DeNiro is a Monsignor of the Catholic Church. Robert Duvall is his brother, a cop assigned to a murder based on the Elizabeth Short murder.

It's a movie that examines their relationship in the corruption of 1940s Los Angeles. DeNiro gives a particularly layered performer, exuding an air of pellucid insincerity, punctuated with moments when the character's underlying decency breaks through. Most of the time, he seems uncaring, more interested in the routines and his own advancement in the Church's hierarchy than in the purported purpose of his priesthood. He works and moves in the money-raising aspect of his job, giving after-dinner speeches and referring to his golf game to raise a chuckle; yet when called upon to lead children in prayer, he rattles through the words, reducing them to mush.

It seems odd to praise DeNiro, without considering Duvall. While DeNiro seems rooted in his ambitions, focused on his future, Duvall lives in the moment, in doing his work, or the conversation he is holding, whether it be with DeNiro or their senile mother in the hospital. Duvall gives a performance which stands in contrast to DeNiro, and illuminates it.

Cinematographer Owen Roizman shoots the long shots in the mild amber tint that has become standard lighting for movies looking back half a century or more. Here, it produces a worn, slightly dirty atmosphere that complements the corruption of the story.

In the end, nothing is solved, but family remains. Despite the major themes, it remains a minor picture, trying to be important, but relying on its performances to carry it... which they do, to a remarkable extent.

Robert DeNiro and Robert Duvall play brothers Des and Tom Spellacy, respectively, who have very different jobs in postwar Los Angeles. Des is a priest who presides over the rich people's weddings, and Tom is a police detective, usually surrounded by the sleaziest elements in society. Then, a murder case draws them together again.

What you really see in "True Confessions" is the vast interconnectedness that we often forget exists in the world. Maybe September 11 and its aftermath brought up that point, but it has always existed. Good support comes from Charles Durning as an acquaintance, and Kenneth McMillan as a corrupt cop. Physically, he has the look for playing a corrupt cop, much like the racist fireman whom he played in "Ragtime". But anyway, this is a really good movie.