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Movies / On DVD / L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential

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L.A. Confidential (1997)

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Reviews Counted:80

Fresh:79

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.6/10

Consensus: Taut pacing, brilliantly dense writing and Oscar-worthy acting combine to produce a smart, popcorn-friendly thrill ride.

Runtime: 2 hrs 18 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Director Curtis Hanson captures the duality of 1950s Los Angeles in this striking film noir adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. The City of Angels might be sunny, inviting, and glamorous to the... Director Curtis Hanson captures the duality of 1950s Los Angeles in this striking film noir adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. The City of Angels might be sunny, inviting, and glamorous to the rest of the world, but it's also filled with corrupt cops, elegant hookers, murder cover-ups, and manipulative paparazzi, all of which are just the tip of the iceberg. It's impossible to know exactly who's trustworthy and who's not as three detectives (Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, and Guy Pearce) each use their own tactics to investigate a coffee-shop massacre. The script by Hanson and Brian Helgeland maintains the fragile framework of human relationships developed in the novel, while 45 different shooting locations give the film a solidly unique tone and feeling of integrity, immersing the viewer in 1950s Los Angeles. The entire cast is first-rate, with compelling performances from Spacey, Crowe, Pearce, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger, and David Strathairn. [More]

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, James Cromwell, David Strathairn

Director: Curtis Hanson

Director: Curtis Hanson
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland, Curtis Hanson
Producer: Arnon Milchan, Michael G. Nathanson, Curtis Hanson
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 14, 1998

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Reviews for L.A. Confidential

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Writer-director Curtis Hanson's adaptation of the James Ellroy novel wasn't merely one of the two or three greatest movies of the 1990s; it stands as a masterpiece for the ages.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
11/26/08
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

Everything Angelinos love and hate about their city is here, as well as anything a movie fan could possibly wish for.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment Comment
10/14/08
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

A modern cinematic classic...the alchemical reaction of a director and a charmed collaboration of actors, writers, and design artists...[Blu-ray]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
10/04/08
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

...one of the most absorbing, compelling, most thoroughly enjoyable crime thrillers to have come along in the past decade.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
09/29/08
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

A neo-noir masterpiece in the league of "Double Indemnity"...

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
09/26/08
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Taut, atmospheric, acted with confident ease -- this is one of the greatest American movies of the 1990s.

Full Review Source: Film4 | comment Comment
04/09/08
Film4

You have to pay close attention to follow the double-crossing intricacies of the plot, but the reward for your work is dark and dirty fun.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
04/09/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Stop reading. Put this review on hold until after you've seen L.A. Confidential.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
04/09/08
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
Slate

Spacey's Vincennes is the standout in a just about flawless ensemble, and director Curtis Hanson keeps the hugely complicated story zooming along the boulevard of broken dreams without losing sight of the details that make the trip worthwhile.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
04/09/08
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

An irresistible treat with enough narrative twists and memorable characters for a half-dozen films.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/09/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This movie restores genre elements to a level of potency that's disturbing, satisfying, and rare as hell.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/09/08
Lisa Alspector
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Dizzying and powerful.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/24/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

A parlor game has already begun as to whether the supreme acting revelation in L.A. Confidential is provided by Mr. Crowe, Mr. Spacey or Mr. Pearce.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
04/27/07
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Representing the best of Classic Hollywood Cinema, this noir policier is marked by densely-plotted narrative, psychological depth, moral ambiguity, emotional complxity, and great acting, mostly by non-Americans, such as Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
08/26/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

As the emotional nexus, a Veronica Lake lookalike trapped in a web of male desires, Basinger is arguably the pick of a perfect cast. Subtle, shocking, compelling and immensely assured.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out

You could call it a huge epic, but it's also a scrappy movie, full of energy as well as style.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

I dug it big-time, baby!

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
05/06/06
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

In doing away with manners, Hanson's hardboiled detective stories craft a more hard-hitting picture of the time than any filmmaker who worked in the 1950s could have dreamed

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
08/19/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

There is a gritty, hard-boiled feel to 'L.A. Confidential' that is so audience satisfying.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Kansan | comment Comment
05/28/05
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

With every corner turned, the viewer feels that sinking feeling sink even deeper: everything's poisoned, everything's suspicious, everything's going down.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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