L.A. Confidential (1997)

As corruption grows in 1950s LA, three policemen - the straight-laced, the brutal, and the sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.

Director:

Curtis Hanson

Writers:

James Ellroy (novel), Brian Helgeland (screenplay),

Stars:

Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce

Top 250 #82 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 77 wins & 48 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Spacey	...	Jack Vincennes
Russell Crowe	...	Wendell 'Bud' White
Guy Pearce	...	Edmund J. Exley
James Cromwell	...	Dudley Smith
Kim Basinger	...	Lynn Bracken
Danny DeVito	...	Sid Hudgens
David Strathairn	...	Pierce Morehouse Patchett
Ron Rifkin	...	D.A. Ellis Loew
Matt McCoy	...	'Badge of Honor' Star Brett Chase
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Mickey Cohen
Paolo Seganti	...	Johnny Stompanato
Elisabeth Granli	...	Mickey Cohen's Mambo Partner
Sandra Taylor	...	Mickey Cohen's Mambo Partner
Steve Rankin	...	Officer Arresting Mickey Cohen
Graham Beckel	...	Dick Stensland

Storyline

1950's Los Angeles is the seedy backdrop for this intricate noir-ish tale of police corruption and Hollywood sleaze. Three very different cops are all after the truth, each in their own style: Ed Exley, the golden boy of the police force, willing to do almost anything to get ahead, except sell out; Bud White, ready to break the rules to seek justice, but barely able to keep his raging violence under control; and Jack Vincennes, always looking for celebrity and a quick buck until his conscience drives him to join Exley and White down the one-way path to find the truth behind the dark world of L.A. crime.

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Plot Keywords:

police | 1950s | corruption | murder | violence | 

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Taglines:

Everything is suspect...everyone is for sale...and nothing is what it seems.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language, and for sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los Ángeles al desnudo

Filming Locations:

1277 S. Cochran Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£112,543 (UK) (2 January 1998)

Gross:

$64,604,977 (USA) (29 May 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regency Enterprises, Wolper Organization, The, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Twice the project was pitched to television: first, producer David L. Wolper wanted to produce the project as a mini-series, and later, it was being developed as a weekly series by HBO. A pilot that starred Kiefer Sutherland was produced, but the series was not picked up afterwards.

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Goofs

When Sid Hudgeons is talking to Jack Vincennes about the male hooker, his words don't match his lips.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sid Hudgens: [voiceover] Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his own house, and inside every house, a happy, all-American family. You can have all this, and who knows... you could even be discovered, become a movie star... or at least see one. Life is good in Los Angeles... it's paradise on Earth." Ha ha ha ha. That's what they ...

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Crazy Credits

At the end of all the credits, there is a brief scene from "Badge of Honor" featuring a dedication.

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Connections

Referenced in The Time Machine (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Wheel of Fortune"
(1952)
Written by George David Weiss (as George Weiss) and Bennie Benjamin
Performed by Kay Starr
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI-Capitol Special Markets

User Reviews

Everything in this film is fantastic.

L.A. Confidential is, without a doubt, the best film of the 1990s, and quite possibly one of the best films ever made.

As with any great film, it all starts with the writing. The story is riveting, the dialogue is smart and quite funny, and the characters are written in three dimensions.

The acting is phenomenal. Perhaps a bigger tragedy than L.A. Confidential's loss to Titanic in the Best Picture race is that none of the three lead actors even garnered nominations. Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and Kevin Spacey are absolutely phenomenal; it is their characters that drive this fascinating story about police corruption in 1950s Los Angeles. We get to know these people, to understand who they are and why they do what they do, and to root for them to overcome their imperfections.

The directing is fantastic. Curtis Hanson doesn't shove anything in the audience's face; instead, he allows the audience to discover the film's nuances on their own. (That makes this an excellent film for repeat viewings, you truly catch something new every time). 1950s Los Angeles is reproduced beautifully. The editing is quick and seamless, the music is perfect for the film (Hanson should teach other directors how to do a montage effectively), and the cinematography is great.

I can't find a negative thing to say about this film. It's truly a masterpiece.