Adapting Ellroy

READING “The Ellroy Enigma” by Scott Timberg [April 6] reminds me that a movie can never equal the layered complexity of a book. That said, “L.A. Confidential” was still a pretty terrific movie.

A few years ago, a friend and I went to hear James Ellroy read at a small theater in Santa Monica. Asked if the actors who played his characters in “L.A. Confidential” were the characters he envisioned when he originally wrote the book, Ellroy replied, “No.” However, he said that once he saw the movie, the people on the screen became the characters they portrayed.

High praise, indeed, for director Curtis Hanson and quite an accolade for actors Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, Kevin Spacey, et al. With “The Black Dahlia” at the opposite end of the adaptation spectrum, we can only hope that “Street Kings” captures and displays more of Ellroy’s magic.

Richard Roswell

North Hollywood