City Confidential: New Orleans

In preparation for ALA's annual conference in New Orleans, I popped in City Confidential: New Orleans (which comes in a generic A&E cover), and sat with poised pen ready to jot down some insider travel tips. Tip No. 1: In 1994, New Orleans was America's murder capitol. Tip No. 2: The French Quarter (where we were staying) was a den of crime, sin, and corruption. Well, the good news is that New Orleans' murder rate has dropped substantially since 1994; the bad news is that City Confidential: New Orleans isn't a travel tape at all. Rather, it's one of those sleazy true crime TV documentaries. Chronicling an FBI sting operation that not only rounded up a number of corrupt police officers on the drug money take, but also caught the primary suspect on tape reveling in the murder of a young woman informant, the film is nigh unwatchable on two counts. First, the program is stunningly repetitive; after every commercial break (roughly every 10 minutes), the story reprises itself--as if viewer's brains were somehow wiped during the one-minute interruption. Second, the writing goes beyond tacky ("the sound of Davis celebrating the cold-blooded murder of Kim Groves left a taste in the city's mouth that no amount of cayenne pepper could ever cover up"). One of A&E's truly less notable efforts. Not recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)