L.A. Confidential (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Back in the day when the cops were dirty, the women were dames, and the music was jazz; LA Confidential delivers a perfect portrayl of Los Angles during the early 1950s. This is a brilliantly crafted crime drama based on James Ellroy's novel. The characters and the places appear to be so real that you wonder if this really happened (it didn't). Kim Basinger won the Oscar for her role as the "high classed whore cut to look like Veronica Lake". Guy Pearce truly shines as an up and coming police detective. Its amazing that this guy isn't a $20 mil/picture star. With enough twists and turns to keep anyone enthralled, give this a look...in fact don't look, buy it. You will watch it again and again.

Sun Tzu once said that "strength everywhere is strong nowhere." That's a good way to describe this movie. It is strong everywhere. You cannot point to casting, or directing, or acting, or writing, or cinematography, and say "that's not as good as the rest." It's uniformly great. Guy Pearce was fantastic in a definite breakout performance; Kevin Spacey was dead on and Russell Crowe was completely convincing as the muscle head with he heart of gold. See, there I go -- I can't criticize any of the actors relative to the others, they were all outstanding.

Anyhow, buy this movie for your collection and you won't be disappointed. The DVD transfer on my copy was excellent, although I wish it had additional features. It's well worth full price. The movie even has a surprisingly high body count for action fans!

1997's "L.A. Confidential" is a film noir easily worthy of its hardboiled 1940's predecessors such as "The Maltese Falcon." "L.A. Confidential" features a complex plot, a set of morally ambiguous heroes, a damsel in distress, and some terrific retro sets and story lines.

The centers around three 1940's L.A. detectives, superbly played by Guy Pierce, Russell Crowe, and Kevin Spacey. The length of the movie (over two hours) allows them to be painted in subtle and very human shades of gray. Guy Pierce plays Ed Exley, son of a prominent retired policeman, smart and slickly ambitious. Russell Crowe plays Bud White, a two-fisted cop out to fix the wrongs he witnessed as a child. Kevin Spacey plays Jack Vincennes, technical advisor to Hollywood crime drama producers and cynical enforcer of the Hollywood code.

A seemingly minor Christmas-shift crime draws the three men into a complex scheme of official corruption and coverup, featuring Kim Bassinger as a high-priced hooker who portrays prominent actresses, Danny DeVito as a gossip columist, and James Cromwell as a shady Chief of Detectives. The three detectives, each for his reasons, finally measure up to their oaths as policemen. They will pay a high price for doing the right thing. One is murdered, one is seriously wounded in a thrilling and horrifying gunfight that is the climax of the movie, and one only just escapes death and disgrace by outthinking the man at the center of the coverup.

This movie is very highly recommended as superb entertainment in the classic film noir genre, presented by a talented cast and featuring a fascinating plotline.

I was having difficulty locating a copy of the movie, L.A. Confidential.
So I went to Amazon to see if a copy was available. Not only did I get it for a great price but we received the movie within a couple of days.
Great Service. Thanks!

This is a great story about some hard nosed LA cops and Hollywood. I enjoyed every minute.

Frank Scoblete: author of Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution!