Hollywood Confidential (1997) (TV)

Director:

Reynaldo Villalobos

Writer:

Anthony Yerkovich (written by)

Release Date:

14 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

In a dirty town, he's the Clean-Up Man.

Plot:

A former LA cop runs a top-flight private detective agency that caters to spoiled Hollywood types. |

Plot Keywords:

Ex Cop | Private Investigator | TV Pilot | Hollywood California | Unsold Pilot

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Edward James Olmos	...	Stan Navarro, Sr.
Rick Aiello	...	Joey Di Rosa
Angela Alvarado	...	Teresa
Christine Harnos	...	Shelly Katz
A. Day Henden
Richard T. Jones	...	Dexter (as Richard Timothy Jones)
Brendan Kelly	...	Mike Mooney
Charlize Theron	...	Sally
Thomas Jane	...	Lee
Evelina Fernández	...	Mrs. Navarro
Valarie Rae Miller	...	C.C.
Marissa Ribisi	...	Zoey
J. Downing	...	Barry Bliss
Sarah Lassez	...	Heather Norland
Brent Huff	...	Lawrence Brent

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content and some violence.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Paramount Television

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Failure To Launch

If it looks like a television show, feels like a television show and acts like a television show then it must be a television show, right? Whenever it was a failed pilot, a series concept or just a movie of the week, Hollywood Confidential definitely feels the part and sold as a feature film it's at it's paltry worst. Not since Netforce has the TV vibe been such a killer.

Hollywood Confidential is the name of this piece and it's also the name of the company run by Edward James Olmos. Just why you'd name your PI firm dealing with celebrity clients this I'll never know and again another sign of it's sloppy television origins. Getting contract work from the movers and shakers in Hollywood some of it is supposed to be those sordid, dirty affairs that frankly never get juicy enough for the subject matter they're intended to expose which again no doubt leads back to it's television roots. It covers a handful of plot branches in this debut that can only lead me closer to believing this was a series conceptual pilot - setting characters, groundwork and possible future story-lines had this taken off. It didn't obviously, but amongst Olmos's team keep an eye out for Rick Aiello (son to Danny) and a younger, but nevertheless sexy, Charlize Theron.

Cutting to the chase, the reason Hollywood Confidential didn't work is because it's boring. It presents this illusion that something worthwhile is going to happen, but it doesn't. There's no excitement and the whole thing plays out rather lackluster, severely lacking focus. There are too many characters for instance and with each one juggling their own baggage (read: back story) to go along with their work either we get to know too little about them or none of it tends to be engaging. Meanwhile the actual cases really ride the gap. Some are small, quick and insignificant while others get the limelight and play out over the entire length of the show. None of them are great, but one or two manage to show promise in between those blatant television dissolves. This product in it's current form would have been a hard sell any time of the day. That it's concept isn't original didn't have to be a problem, but they don't go anywhere distinguishable with the 'agency run by ex-law enforcement types' concept. It comes off like a rather sad variation of any cop drama minus any style, edge or characterization of the more popular examples to set it apart. Edward James Olmos is perhaps the single dab of glue that can't hold the pieces together no matter how hard the effort. With his scarred and world weary face, he paints a picture deeper than anything this flick has to say or show and that's exactly why it fails.