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 #81 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 76 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 | Violence | Murder | 

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Taglines:

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

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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

Simon Baker's big screen debut.

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Goofs

During the fight between the cops and the Mexicans, the newspaper photographer raises his camera to take a photo. When he does so, the flashbulb fires; however, the resulting photo was obviously not taken with a flash. If it was, the officers in the foreground would have been overexposed and the rest of the scene would have looked more as though it were lit from the front, rather than from the sides and above.

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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

Characters from the movie were incorporated into period stock footage shown during the credits

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Connections

Referenced in A Slight Case of Murder (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Silent Night"
(1818)
Music by Franz Gruber
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr

User Reviews

On of the best movies of the past 20 years.

L.A. Confidential most likely falls into the category of one of the best movies of the past twenty years. The complex story line seemed to burst at the seams with intelligence. I found the complexity of several different sub-plots working together challenged the intellectual part of my brain while the intense action through out the entire movie satisfied the craving of the not-so-intellectual part of my brain that enjoys seeing a good brawl followed by a good shoot-out. Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson did and excellent job of combining many elements of several different kinds of films into one. They seem to have made this movie with several different audiences in mind. I for one, as I have mentioned, enjoyed the intellectual aspect as well as the action, while my wife enjoyed the combination of a love story with drama. It really has something for everyone. Bringing together all of these elements into one film sets it apart from many others. Of course the best aspect of L.A. Confidential is the way that not everything is as it seems, and then, in an instant, all of the plots are sprung like a trap and come together for a grand finale. Overall L.A. Confidential is an exceptional film that contains something for everyone.