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L.A. Confidential (1997)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
19 September 1997 (USA) moreTagline:
Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush... morePlot:
A shooting at an all night diner is investigated by three LA policemen in their own unique ways. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 69 wins & 43 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(71 articles)
Lambs Named Best Thriller (From WENN. 3 June 2009, 12:00 PM, PDT)
Actor Sandeen Dies
(From WENN. 11 February 2009, 3:55 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Will stand the test of time......... more (532 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence and language, and for sexuality.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
138 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
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:18Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Body count: 30 moreGoofs:
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. moreQuotes:
[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.
more
Soundtrack:
Wheel of Fortune moreFAQ
A Note Regarding SpoilersWhy did Exley do what he did at the end?
Did Exley actually testify at the beginning?
more
more (532 total)
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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.