L.A. Confidential
Everything Is Suspect...Everyone Is For Sale...And Nothing Is What It Seems.
L.A. Confidential is "tough, gorgeous and vastly entertaining", "a genuine masterpiece that will knock your socks off." Director Curtis Hanson and a terrific cast serve up a "ravishing, thrilling tale of police corruption and Hollywood glamour" in this adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. Three cops, a call girl, a mysterious millionaire, a tabloid journalist, and the Chief of Detectives fuel a labyrinthine plot rife with mystery, ambition, romance, and humor. What you'll see is off the record, on the QT and very hush-hush.
Member Reviews
great movie - outlander78
L.A. Confidential combines an excellent ensemble, outstanding photography and sets, dry humour, sterling dialogue and a great neo-noir plot. It is truly a masterpiece, and I suggest every adult watch it. I am not going to write a detailed synopsis or highlight my favourite parts, as everyone should enjoy them the first time for themselves. Rent this movie!L.A. Confidential - movie_goer
The 1950's Hollywood is most known for it's classy icon Movie stars, the glamor and rich elite parties. But not for it's darker past, that is tell know.
L.A. Confidental is about Conspiracy theories, black mailing the Famous and of coarse your old fashion Mystery Murders. With all of this it still lacks that pazza's that i thought would be there. Perhaps my expectations was filled to high? I just couldn't understand why this is considered the cream of the crop of all L.A. based movies!? Was 1997 a bad year in film, with nothing other then this to nominated for awards?Deserving Of Every Kudo It Received - CharleyJames
Like "Chinatown," "LA Confidential" is a semi 'ramon a clef' reflecting life in Los Angeles during a specific time period. In "Chinatown," the John Huston character was based loosely on Wm. Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate, who through means legitimate and not-so-legitimate succeeded in buying up much of the property in the San Fernando Valley and then selling the water rights and pumping stations he owned to the city for far more than they were worth at the time. (As far as I know, Wrigley never fathered a daughter by his own daughter as the Huston character did.)
The LA Police Dept. has always been a violent, racist and scandal-ridden force but perhaps no more so than in the 1950s. Blacks and Latinos were rousted routinely for crimes they couldn't possibly have committed, the Hollywood studio's were dictating America's tastes, prostitution was as commonplace - and tolerated by paid-off vice cops - as illegal gambling, and everyone wanted to be in the movies. The fan magazines dictated who was in and who was out in studioland, and into this potboiling melange comes "LA Confidential." The main characters are dead-eye accurate composites of people in the movie business, the police force and the news media at the time.
The story revolves around an inexplicable triple murder, apparently connected to a high-priced call girl ring whose owner has his girls undergo plastic surgery to resemble movie stars. In one great scene, Guy Pearce confronts who he thinks is a call girl in a famous bistro, shouting, "Just 'cause you were cut to look like Lana Turner don't make you Lana Turner."
The woman throws a drink in his face and just as Pearce is about to lunge for her, Kevin Spacey deadpans, "Relax, Exley. That is Lana Turner."
A true masterpiece of film making although why Kim Bassinger won Best Supporting Actress is beyond me. No matter what the role, she always seems to play Kim Bassinger.
Member Reviews
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great movie - outlander78
L.A. Confidential combines an excellent ensemble, outstanding photography and sets, dry humour, sterling dialogue and a great neo-noir plot. It is truly a masterpiece, and I suggest every adult watch it. I am not going to write a detailed synopsis or highlight ...L.A. Confidential - movie_goer
The 1950's Hollywood is most known for it's classy icon Movie stars, the glamor and rich elite parties. But not for it's darker past, that is tell know.
L.A. Confidental is about Conspiracy theories, black mailing the Famous and of coarse your old fashion ...Deserving Of Every Kudo It Received - CharleyJames
Like "Chinatown," "LA Confidential" is a semi 'ramon a clef' reflecting life in Los Angeles during a specific time period. In "Chinatown," the John Huston character was based loosely on Wm. Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate, who through means legitimate and ...