L.A. Confidential (1997)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

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 | 1950s | Violence | Corruption | Diner

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 69 wins & 43 nominations

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) | 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:

Body count: 30

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the DA is talking to Bud White in his bathroom in front of the mirror, at one point, his lips don't match what is heard.

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 Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Soundtrack:

Wheel of Fortune

Will stand the test of time.........

When a film evokes an era as well as L.A. Confidential does, people take notice. It could be argued that it is easier to replicate the recent past than the distant on film, and in a sense this is true. Costumes, language, and the necessary absence of the modern in "period pieces" make them expensive and difficult to film. But couldn't it be argued that it is just as difficult to make a film about more recent periods? I have no knowledge of how a Victorian era table was set, or what a knight really spoke like; we are subject to the directors view of reality. But what if a good deal of your audience lived through the time you are portraying, as in the case of the 1950's? I can even envision my grandfather coming back from WW2 to a booming economy, and living in the world Curtis Hanson created.

The real genus of this film is that it creates not only a physical world, but one with all the politics, corruption, racism and inequity of the time. As a result we feel the characters motivations and understand their faults all the better; Bud White, Ed Exley, Lynn Bracken and Lana Turner all live here.

This film, like others that make us believe we are there for two hours (and $7.50), will endure. I was thinking a perfect double feature would be with Chinatown, another film that will stand the test of time.