Jon Snow’s review published on Letterboxd:
I tried to like this film more, but it ended up getting in it's own way too much. The ending is too convoluted and unbelievable to be taken seriously, and not nearly as close to L.A. Confidential as it thinks it is.
I know it's a work of fiction, but solving The Black Dahlia murder is never the main point, it's just a presence looming in the background. Not enough attention is paid to it, but at the same time, too much. The film shifts focus too much.
While the setting, (most of) the acting and the cinematography are exceptional, the story itself just kind of withers and dies. It's not boring, but it doesn't leave much to care about.
I know it's suppose to be a prequel to L.A. Confidential, and maybe within the novelizations this is pained really well, but within the context of the films, it doesn't really work. At all.
Always a thumbs up for Josh Hartnett. The dude really fits well into the noir/classic world.