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 | Hollywood California | Direct To Video | Beautiful Woman

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | 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 the paltry worst.

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. 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 doesn'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 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 matter. Meanwhile the actual cases ride the gap. Some are small, quick and insignificant while others get the limelight and play out over the entire length. None of them are great, but one or two manage to show promise in between blatant television dissolves. At the end of the day, this product in it's current form would have been a hard sell. 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'. 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. With his scarred and world weary face, he paints a picture deeper than anything this flick has to say.