The film, based on a best-selling book, also boasts an all-star cast
James Cromwell, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey in L.A. Confidential (Image: Rex)
It was a genre-defining crime drama with a star-studded A-list cast and an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes and now this legendary film is being shown on Film 4.
LA Confidential has become a cult classic since its release in 1997. The neo-noir crime thriller cast list reads like a great and the good of Hollywood. It stars Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Bassinger and Danny DeVito, and has been praised since its release by critics and fans alike.
The film tells the story of three police officers – Detective Lieutenant Exley, played by Guy Pearce, who is the son of a murdered detective and hell-bent on taking revenge on those responsible for his father’s death, Officer Wendell ‘Bud, White, played by Russell Crowe, whose ex-partner is implicated in a scandal discovered by Exley, and Detective Sergeant Jack ‘Hollywood Jack’ Vincennes, played by Kevin Spacey, who is feeding leaked information to newspaper boss Sid Hudgens, played by Danny DeVito.
Kim Basinger as Lynn Bracken in La Confidential (Image: REX FEATURES)
The trio come together to solve an unsolved murder which took place at a downtown Los Angeles coffee shop during the early 1950s. LA Confidential, which was directed by Curtis Hanson, was both a critical and commercial success and was nominated for nine Academy Awards and picking up the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Kim Bassinger for her role as high class sex worker Lynn Bracken and Best Screenplay.
It was also nominated for 12 BAFTAs and five Golden Globes with Bassinger once again picking up the award for Best Supporting Actress. On the movie review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, LA Confidential has a rare almost perfect rating on 99 percent. One critic wrote: “The flawless ensemble…, the masterfully written story, the vibrant yet gritty vision of 1950s LA – most everything clicks in this fittingly cynical and undeniably seductive period crime thriller that still maintains its style and sizzle.”
Another said: “Adapted from a novel said to be unadaptable and set in a genre that has seemed increasingly played out, it brings clarity and life to its art and to life. That’s a pretty good definition of a masterpiece, isn’t it?” While a third said: “L.A. Confidential glistens like a new car, but has the darkened soul of the best film noir in which good men are tempted by bad ideas. This is one of the year’s best films, the thinking person’s detective story.”
Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey star in the film(Image: Getty Images)
Fans also loved the movie, describing it as “an instant classic”. One wrote: “L.A. Confidential is, without a doubt, the best film of the ’90s, and one of the best films ever made. Curtis Hanson was a much better director than Speilberg or Tarantino. Great script, the story is riveting, the dialogue is smart and funny, and the characters are written in three if not four dimensions. One can almost forgive the casting of DeVito, who did a good job. There should have been several sequels.”
Another said: “L.A. Confidential is an incredibly well-acted crime thriller film. It’s rare for a movie to be this well cast, acted, and directed. Director Curtis Hanson plays the audience like a piano with the story and every single frame of the movie, leaving the audience engaged and wanting to know what happens next.”
While a third added: “This cast couldn’t be more perfectly cast as Guy Pearce plays the straight man Exley exceptionally well as we see how his penchant for doing the right thing makes him a target for the rest of the cops even as he begins to uncover how far the corruption in this town goes, but Russell Crowe as Bud White is amazing and definitely should’ve gotten a nomination for Best Supporting Actor as he is a rage-fueled cop who has some very shady ways about him but at heart is a good cop with a disdain for men who abuse women. This makes him a perfect counter to Kim Basinger’s Lynn Brackens who ended up winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this film as the classic femme fatale character.”
LA Confidential is being shown at 9pm on Film 4 on Friday, January 2.
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