L.A. Confidential (1997)

Director:

Curtis Hanson

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

19 September 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush...

Plot:

A shooting at an all night diner is investigated by three LA policemen in their own unique ways.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Violence | 1950s | Diner | Corruption

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 69 wins & 43 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Jan. 6

2:15 AM

TCM

Cast

Kevin Spacey	...	Jack Vincennes
Russell Crowe	...	Bud White
Guy Pearce	...	Ed Exley
James Cromwell	...	Dudley Smith
Kim Basinger	...	Lynn Bracken
Danny DeVito	...	Sid Hudgens
David Strathairn	...	Pierce 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

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language, and for sexuality.

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | USA:R (certificate #35218) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:18 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KT | Canada:18A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

1714 Gramercy Place, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Regency Enterprises

Trivia:

To pitch the movie to backers (and, later, to explain his aesthetic ideas about it to various cast and crew members), director Curtis Hanson put together a group of 18 period images illustrating different aspects of what he hoped to convey with the movie. These included the "Welcome to Los Angeles" postcard that's in the first shot of the movie. Photos of tract housing, orange groves, and the glamour shot of Veronica Lake are framed on Lynn Bracken's wall. Hanson also chose studio photos of two lesser-known 1950s actors (Aldo Ray and Guy Madison) to show to Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe what he envisioned as models for the characters Ed Exley and Bud White. Exley's model was Madison, while White's was Ray. This film takes it's name from "Confidential", a notorious 1950s-era movie star tabloid, which is fictionally portrayed herein as "Hush-Hush".

Goofs:

Continuity: Mrs. Lefferts' glasses (side bit) move from being under her kerchief on top of it (without her taking the glasses off) when Bud White interviews her at her home.

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 tell you, anyway.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best of Film Noir (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

But Not for Me

Great Detective Movie

L.A. Confidential is the most classy, intriguing, thought provoking and sexiest detective movie ever to be made in the history of detective films.

When you look back at it and see that Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey and Guy Pearce actually appeared in the same film back in 97 then you wouldn't have believed it since they have all gone on to better things but before that we had L.A. Confidential which was Crowe's and Pearce's ticket into Hollywood. Spacey had already made it with his Best Supporting Actor nod for The Usual Suspects but what puzzles me is how everybody apart from Kim Basinger didn't get any acting nominations at the Oscars. James Cromwell is the most chilled out villain you'll ever going to see in a film like this and has been criminally ignored by the Academy. Curtis Hanson was also someone who had made some good films but no masterpieces till this came along.

They all must have sold their souls to make this because when you get big cast get together to make a Hollywood film then you become a bit intrigued by it because if the cast is big then is the story any good? In L.A. Confidential's case it had both and a lot more to say the least.

I still think that this is Spacey's, Crowe's and Pearce's best film of there career. Russell Crowe as tough guy but sentimental towards women Bud White is flawless and is quite like the real Russell Crowe which is scary. Guy Pearce as the quick witted but dumb looking Ed Exley is someone one you either love or you hate as the annoying rookie. Kevin Spacey is just as cool as anything that Bogart and Mitchium could have pulled off as Jack Vincennes and there is the movie along with a great script by Brain Heagland of Mystic River fame and Curtis Hanson himself who put together a great script from James Elroy's novel.

Kim Basinger is as sexy as she is going to get and her acting is very good and well deserving of her Oscar if the boys were robbed. I liked how we had three different stories and one case that all had something to do with another but were all separate anyway till the end. It was like watching a movie with three stories based on a trio of detectives. L.A. Confidential was a treat as far as storytelling goes because it enthrals you into the film straight away as well as it being more exciting than a night out in Vegas.

We don't see Detective films like this so we should be grateful that this came along when it did.