The script has the type of deft plotting that made films like The Crying Game and The Usual Suspects so popular.
Comment
01/01/00
L.A. Confidential (1997)
99
%
Tomatometer
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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... [More]
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger
Director: Curtis Hanson
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Reviews for L.A. Confidential
Curtis Hanson has captured the flinty, sweaty days of post-World War II Los Angeles in his slick policier, L.A. Confidential.
01/01/00
It may be set almost 45 years ago but it's as urgently up-to-date as tomorrow.
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If the critics overrate this one, it's only because it looks so damned good in contrast to the rest of what's out there.
01/01/00
Director Hanson's convoluted plot -- tracing the rise, fall, and redemption of L.A. cops played by Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, and James Cromwell -- is all over the map until its handy, bloody ending (body count > 25).
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This is the rare film that displays a perfect sense of star power, and how it plays to an audience.
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A solid, confident thriller.
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The feel of the movie is of nostalgia for the Hollywood glamorous life of [the 1950s]...
01/01/00
It's the story of good white actors stranded, in the name of noir, in a movie that refuses to kick into gear until it's far too late.
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L.A. Confidential is a rarity, a major Hollywood film with smart acting, dialogue and production values that actually works from beginning to end.
01/01/00
Take strong performances, an involved story and period atmosphere, then throw in sex, violence, corruption and politics to make one hell of a crime drama.
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Intricate in design, bold in execution, and rife with thrilling acting especially by Russell Crowe as a tough cop with a complex code of morality, L.A. Confidential scores as one of the great police dramas of our time.
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Speaking strictly on the record, and not at all hush-hush: Don't miss L.A. Confidential.
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Crooked cops. The mystery and allure of Hollywood in the '50s. Death, double-crossing, and secret alliances. Paparazzi waiting to get that one breakthrough picture.
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Top Criticyou won't be able to take your eyes off Kevin Spacey as a cop who yearns for notoriety, or Crowe and Pearce, playing morally challenged officers who represent two sides of the same coin.
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Curtis Hanson's resplendently wicked L.A. Confidential is a tough, gorgeous, vastly entertaining throwback to the Hollywood that did things right.
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Top CriticFun, if you have the stomach for it.
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Top CriticThis is very rough stuff, with more than a little violence and profanity — enough to please just about any Tarantino fan.
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They all contribute to a movie that's unusually delicate, understated and searching -- a movie that catches us up in the faded '50s beauty of Los Angeles.
01/01/00
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