Critic Reviews
L.A. Confidential (1997) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (168) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
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The Onion (A.V. Club) (John Krewson)
As the story unfolds, carefully and elaborately, what develops is not just a remarkably intricate crime tale but a brilliant and compassionate story of people who struggle to rise above their flawed nature. This may be the best movie of the year; it's ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (John Krewson)
Nick's Flick Picks (Nick Davis)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
A movie bull's-eye: noir with an attitude, a thriller packing punches. It gives up its evil secrets with a smile. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
AboutFilm.com (Kris Campbell)
A question: How do you mesh an ensemble cast of established and rising stars seamlessly in an Oscar-friendly epic, without the preening and speechifying that normally attaches to such projects? The answer: Um, not sure, actually. This is why I don't make ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at AboutFilm.com (Kris Campbell)
Cinema em Cena (Pablo Villaça)
Movie Reviews UK
Based upon James Ellroy's acclaimed novel, L.A. Confidential sifts all of this work's atmosphere, complexity, depth and power into its superb adaptation. Opening on a Christmas Eve in the early 50s, organised crime boss Mickey Cohen (Paul Guilfoyle) has ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Movie Reviews UK
John Beachem
The labyrinth plot is mainly about three cops. Ed Exley, who is a golden boy of the LA police; Bud White, who is a maverick cop, playing by his own rules to get justice; and Jack Vincennes, the celebrity cop who works with Sid Hudgeons from the tabloid ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at John Beachem
Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
Bud White. Jack Vincennes. Ed Exley. When I see these names, I don't think of easy heroes who are black-and-white good or bad, but of people I know and I've met, people I can see myself being, people who are human. It is exactly this complexity of ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
Jan-Willem Swane
L.A. Confidential speelt aan het begin van de jaren vijftig in een gewelddadig Los Angeles. De machtigste drugsbaron is achter tralies gezet, waardoor anarchie in de onderwereld is ontstaan. In een café wordt een massaslachting aangericht. De agenten ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Jan-Willem Swane
Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
Los Angeles crime boss Mickey Cohen has been arrested and is serving a ten year sentence. A vacancy at the organized crime throne makes it open season for out-of-town thugs to try to move in and assume control. The L.A. police force, headed by Dudley ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
JoBlo's Movie Emporium ("JoBlo")
I guess that I'm getting a little soft in my old age, but how come I didn't pick up on this movie's greatness the first time around? When I first saw this film back in 1997, I was entertained somewhat, but never really got what all the fuss was about. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at JoBlo's Movie Emporium ("JoBlo")
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Seductive and beautiful, cynical and twisted, and one of the best films of the year. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
One of the best crime dramas to come along in years. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Dallas Observer (Michael Sragow)
He's (Hanson) never before generated the kind of heat inside a picture--and out of it--that he has with L.A. Confidential. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Dallas Observer (Michael Sragow)
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Movie Habit congratulates L.A. Confidential, the first new release to receive a four-star rating from this site. It is an excellent movie. It is incredibly well made, and will no doubt play a role into the Academy Awards next spring.
The movie opens ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
L.A. Confidential, with an exceptional ensemble cast directed by Curtis Hanson from James Ellroy's densely plotted novel, looks to be the definitive noir for this particular time and place. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Variety (Todd McCarthy)
An irresistible treat with enough narrative twists and memorable characters for a half-dozen films. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Variety (Todd McCarthy)
Cinematter (Matt Williams)
It would be easy to label L.A. Confidential a nineties attempt a film noir, but it doesn't quite fit. That overeager catagorization does a disservice both to the film and to the genre. Sure, the pulpy film takes place in the shady underbelly of Los ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Cinematter (Matt Williams)
New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
A juicy noir stew of amorality that's the best thing since ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
Homer Yen
The seasoned Capt. Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) questions his new protege, Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) about his political views when it comes to police work. "Would you plant evidence to get a conviction if you knew the person to be guilty? Would you shoot a ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Homer Yen
Michael Dequina
Curtis Hanson's adaptation of James Ellroy's crime novel L.A. Confidential earned a strong buzz after premiering at Cannes this past May, and it's easy to see why: it is Hollywood moviemaking at its finest--a classy piece of entertainment made with equal ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Michael Dequina
Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
If you care about character and plotting, if you're one of those people who's complained that movies don't have a compelling story anymore, if you've ever mourned the demise of adeptly concise filmmaking technique at the hands of directors interested in ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
Projectionist (Sean Caszatt)
Andrew Hicks (Andrew Hicks)
FilmLand Web (Robert Konop)
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
That's certainly not an original subject. But just because a story's been told too many times doesn't mean it can't still be told well. And the new film L.A. Confidential tells it far better than most. In fact, this time the story is told with more ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Brandon Stahl
It is an understood passion and an understood calm. Bud White walks into the home of Lynn Bracken, a prostitute "cut to look like Veronica Lake." He's one of L.A.'s finest investigating the murder of fellow cop, and one of the leads takes him to her home. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Brandon Stahl
Ted Prigge
I was thinking after I saw "L.A. Confidential," and I couldn't come up with a single thing wrong with it. And I couldn't think of one scene where I wasn't totally engrossed, a character who wasn't at least a bit interesting (save the really small parts), ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Ted Prigge
Sridhar Prasad
top reading this review right now. Quickly shut down your computer, and leave to go see L.A. Confidential. Then see it again. Are you back? Good. Now we can talk What I have just done is send you on one of the best film-rides in the last 25 years. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Sridhar Prasad
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Confidential was a key magazine of the 1950s, a monthly that sold millions of copies with its seamy exposes of celebrity drugs and sex. I found it on my dad's night table and read it breathlessly, the stories of reefer parties, multiple divorces, ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
L.A. Confidential" is one of the best films of the year, an excellent film noir murder mystery brimming with style and atmosphere and topped off with fine acting.
This is one of those classic films like "The Big Sleep" where the murder mystery is so ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Voluptuously engrossing. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
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 ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
Walter Frith
Set in the early 1950's in Los Angeles, 'L.A. Confidential' examines the professional lives of three police officers played in brilliant ensemble fashion by Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce. Spacey is the veteran cop who knows how to bend the ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Walter Frith
Timothy Scott
As a film critic, it 's rare to see a film of such quality where one has to wonder if heUll run out of superlatives to describe it. L. A. Confidential presents such a dilemma. Of course, these are problems a critic loves to have. Forget about The Game. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Timothy Scott
Three Movie Buffs (Eric Nash)
Based on the James Ellroy novel, L. A. Confidential shows the sleazy side of Hollywood in the 1950's. The movie condenses the book down from years to days but all of the great characters and sleazy mystery is still intact.
L.A. Confidential tells the ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Eric Nash)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
But there should be nothing hush-hush about the success of this crime film. L.A. Confidential is easily the most engrossing and exciting Los Angeles police drama since Chinatown. The 1996 Oscar race is off and running.
Adapted from James Ellroy's ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
Hollywood moviemaking at its finest--a classy piece of entertainment made with equal parts passion, style, and fun. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
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. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Curtis Hanson's resplendently wicked L.A. Confidential is a tough, gorgeous, vastly entertaining throwback to the Hollywood that did things right. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at New York Times (Janet Maslin)
eFilmCritic.com (Ryan Arthur)
Mr. Showbiz (Richard T. Jameson)
See L.A. Confidential. Be astonished at discovering anew how very, very satisfying movies can still be. And how fine that can feel. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Mr. Showbiz (Richard T. Jameson)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
A 1950s history of sleazy Hollywood and corrupt cops and crime bosses running the city, is gone over with a fine eye for detail in this stylized, technicolor noir film, that also depicts the popular scandal magazine of that era, Confidential Magazine, ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
This one left me a bit cold. Director Curtis Hanson's acclaimed
adaptation of James Ellroy's neo-noir novel is overripe with all
sorts of wonderfully sordid stuff: dirty cops, corrupt politic-
ians, drug smuggling, sex scandals, sleazy ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
The feel of the movie is of nostalgia for the Hollywood glamorous life of [the 1950s]... ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
This movie restores genre elements to a level of potency that's disturbing, satisfying, and rare as hell. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
Oregon Herald (Jamie Peck)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
There are so many things to enjoy here. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Newsweek (David Ansen)
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. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Newsweek (David Ansen)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Lately, it seems that film noir has become the province of independent productions. As a result, it's refreshing to see a big-budget, studio effort of this sort that does nearly everything right. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
USA Today (Mike Clark)
This sleek adaptation of James Ellroy's dauntingly complex novel has the black-and-white tabloid soul of an old "Confidential" magazine. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at USA Today (Mike Clark)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
As I watched the credits rolling after "L.A. Confidential," I came to a wonderful and refreshing conclusion: Hollywood is still capable of making great films. I would never deny that a monumental amount of junk emerges from Hollywood's hallowed halls ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Michael Redman
The most difficult aspect of talking about "L.A. Confidential" is knowing where to begin. The film is thick with subplots come together to create a smart complex film that is one of the best police movies in recent years.
The City Of Angels of 1953 is ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Michael Redman
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
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. These are just some of the elements that make Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential one of ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
DVD Verdict
Evoking in immense detail the look and spirit of Los Angeles and Hollywood in the early 1950s, with a stunningly talented acting ensemble and a compelling story, L.A. Confidential is an absolutely reference quality film noir and a DVD that still sets a ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at DVD Verdict
Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
This is a 1950's comic-book style police drama, with two cops battling each other, themselves, and the system to find true justice. There is lots of wisecracking, 50's cliches and fistfights among the multitude of tough guys in this picture. There is ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
L.A. Confidential, despite what you've heard, is not the best film in 20 years. It's not even the best film of 1997 (current titleholder: In the Company of Men). But if you consider all films ever made that have the nasal Danny Devito providing ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
t's 1953 in Los Angeles. The city is still pretty, but it has a dark underbelly that is the territory of corrupt cops and mobsters. There is a massacre at a all night diner that may have been a mob hit, but is being pinned on some convenient black youths. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
Baltimore City Paper (Luisa F. Ribeiro)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
This is the story of a movie. About crime and violence. Corruption. And loyalties that shift like sand in a windstorm. It's about a city called Los Angeles, and a time, the early 1950s. This is about one of the best crime dramas in years.
``L.A. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
This is the story of a movie. About crime and violence. Corruption. And loyalties that shift like sand in a windstorm. It's about a city called Los Angeles, and a time, the early 1950s. This is a story about one of the best crime dramas to come along in ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
San Francisco Examiner (Barbara Shulgasser)
CURTIS HANSON has captured the flinty, sweaty days of post-World War II Los Angeles in his slick policier,
"L.A. Confidential." He has the molls, the cynicism and the corruption of a Bogart movie; in fact, "The Big Sleep" and "The Maltese Falcon" echo ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Barbara Shulgasser)
Scott Renshaw
Early though it may be to make such a prediction, I'm going to do so: no one will be more deserving of an Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 1997 than Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson. James Ellroy's 1990 novel "L.A. Confidential" was 496 pages of sprawling, ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Scott Renshaw
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
whipping James Ellroy's seminal novel of 1950s Los Angeles police corruption and noir sexuality into recognizable shape for this distinguished film adaptation. Ellroy's original manuscript fell under the heading of “epic.†With over 100 distinct ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Based on James Ellroy's novel, LA Confidential is a modern noirish tale of how police corruption and the flourishing of organized crime go hand in hand, as well as how public decisions are dictated by public image, strange bedfellows, and the allure of th ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
Hanson delivers something ever rarer in film culture, not a new film noir but an old-fashioned total movie, somehow of a single piece. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
Time (Richard Schickel)
A movie of shadows and half lights, the best approximation of the old black-and-white noir look anyone has yet managed on color stock. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Time (Richard Schickel)
Slate (David Edelstein)
That rare mainstream cop thriller that refuses to telegraph its outcome in the first 15 minutes or, for much of its running time, to tell you how to feel about its protagonists. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Slate (David Edelstein)
DVDnett.no
L.A. Confidential bygger på en roman med samme navn av James Ellroy. Romanen igjen bygger på en hendelse fra 1951 som har fått navnet "Bloody Christmas". Curtis Hanson (The River Wild, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle) har regissert filmen, som ble ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at DVDnett.no
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Full of period locations, costumes, and one very clever Lana Turner gag, it's easy to see why Ellroy is so pleased with the film. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
THE WEEKLY MOVIE REVIEW
It’s a real shame because this had potential. And while there were some good moments, the dumb ones were just too bad and too frequent. For example, the police corruption aspect in this film is so overdone and cliché that you find yourself saying ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at THE WEEKLY MOVIE REVIEW
DVD Authority.com (Chad Estrella)
This is a classic cop film mystery that is based on the James Elroy novel by the same name. The movie is about the Los Angeles police department in the Hollywood glamour days of the 50's and how the department wants to keep organized crime out of the ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at DVD Authority.com (Chad Estrella)
Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
This is what a real movie should look like. It should have a story (although a somewhat confusing one) and it should have real actors. No need for a lot of special effects or big explosions or big-named expensive actors to drive the film, just a good, ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
kids-in-mind.com
A man beats up a woman, and a man is beaten up by a man. Police officers beat up prisoners/suspects in some scenes. There's shoving, throwing people around, punching etc., with a bit of blood and sometimes the victims are bound and sometimes you can hear ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at kids-in-mind.com
TheBoxSet.com - Complete Movie/DVD Review
released (1997), L.A. Confidential is a fascinating story about corruption and greed in the ranks of the Los Angeles police department in the 1950's. With an intricate plot involving a multitude of characters and a suspicious multiple murder, this movie ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at TheBoxSet.com - Complete Movie/DVD Review
Palo Alto Weekly (Leonard Schwarz)
Globe and Mail (--)
Reviews and Reflections
L.A. Confidential starts as an exposé, told by scandal magazine columnist Sid Hudgeons. It's stylized, and also stylish, to the point of being a gently funny self-parody. It's so determinedly immersed in 50's Los Angeles that we're always partly ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Reviews and Reflections
San Francisco Examiner (G. Allen Johnson)
"The Big Sleep" and "The Maltese Falcon" echo loudly throughout. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at San Francisco Examiner (G. Allen Johnson)
The Onion A.V. Club (John Krewson)
as crime classics like Chinatown, L.A. Confidential is a considerable and important step in a different and more human direction. James Ellroy's mammoth, improbably complex novel of early-1950s crime, police work, and politics couldn't have been easy ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The Onion A.V. Club (John Krewson)
David N. Butterworth
It's the early 1950s and the lure of Tinseltown brings the hapless and the hopeful to the City of Angels. Maybe to make it as a Hollywood movie star. Or maybe just to see one.
But beneath the glitz and the glamour and the celebrity lies a dark and ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at David N. Butterworth
Baltimore Sun (Ann Hornaday)
A glamorous, alluring entertainment that revels in the artifice of Hollywood while exposing its corrupt heart, L.A. Confidential pays stylish homage to some of the great film noirs of the distant and recent past. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Baltimore Sun (Ann Hornaday)
Steve Rhodes
A bespectacled Ed, who is forever getting into trouble because his fellow officers convince him that real cops don't wear glasses, is played by Guy Pearce from the Australian hit comedy THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. The director ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Steve Rhodes
Jason Overbeck
This is the best film of the year. If TITANIC (****) wins Best Picture at the Oscars it will be a tragedy the size of FORREST GUMP (***) over PULP FICTION (****). The sad fact is that TITANIC will win. Nothing against TITANIC which is one of the best ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Jason Overbeck
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
Palo Alto Online (Leonard Schwarz)
A meditation on good and evil that glows with the vitality of pulp fiction and the intelligence of good writing, "L.A. Confidential" is a great American movie, a hard-boiled cops and crime story that is at once viscerally entertaining and intellectually ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Palo Alto Online (Leonard Schwarz)
Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
Goldsmith
L.A. Confidential: (Jerry Goldsmith) This film has been an enormous success with the critics in the last few months of 1997, and with that critical success has come some good recognition for Goldsmith. Director Curtis Hanson had already ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
filethirteen.com
But this great cast can't overcome Hanson's fatal error in casting look-alikes Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe in the film. I was almost two hours into the movie before I snapped that Crowe wasn't Spacey. No amount of exposition or well- crafted scripting ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at filethirteen.com
IndependentCritics.com (Jacob Hall)
In the wake of "Titanic," "L.A. Confidential" seemed like a small film. After all, how could a small film about cops measure up to the massive epic that was James Cameron's "masterpiece"? Everyone forgot about "L.A. Confidential" at the Oscars. Everyone ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at IndependentCritics.com (Jacob Hall)
Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)
If L.A. Confidential had stopped after the first hour - the only part of the movie that held my attention- it would have been enjoyable. After that, it just got too lengthy and complicated so monotony quickly set in.
Ed Exley (Guy Pierce) is a do-good ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)
Sleep Deprivation Institute
One of the best stories I have seen on the screen in a long time. And a refreshing change of pace from all of the crapola we've been given this year. Despite considering myself a movie geek of the second degree--Hanson, Crowe, Pearce--who are ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Sleep Deprivation Institute
DVD Review e-zine
L.A. Confidential bygger på en roman med samme navn av James Ellroy. Romanen igjen bygger på en hendelse fra 1951 som har fått navnet "Bloody Christmas". Curtis Hanson (The River Wild, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle) har regissert filmen, som ble ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at DVD Review e-zine
Needcoffee.com
One of the best stories I have seen on the screen in a long time. And a refreshing change of pace from all of the crapola we've been given this year. Despite considering myself a movie geek of the second degree--Hanson, Crowe, Pearce--who are these ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Needcoffee.com
The Stop Button (Andrew Wickliffe)
I haven’t seen L.A. Confidential since 1998 or so, whenever the laserdisc came out. Before the film came out--I saw it in the theaters of course, being a big Russell Crowe fan back then--I read James Ellroy’s book. So, obviously, the film cuts a lot ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The Stop Button (Andrew Wickliffe)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
If there really is such a thing as the best film of 1997, right now the title belongs to Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential," the rip-roaring -- and apparently condensed -- adaptation of the gritty, noir-ish James Ellroy novel.
Hanson, who co-wrote ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
MovieFreak.com (Rachel Sexton)
The Aisle Seat (Mike McGranaghan)
Set in 1950's Hollywood, L.A. Confidential tells the story of three very different cops on the LAPD. Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a cool cop who also serves as technical advisor for a Dragnet-style TV show called Badge of Honor. The fame that comes ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The Aisle Seat (Mike McGranaghan)
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
L.A. Confidential" is the closest thing to a classic cop movie you could imagine, a throwback to a few decades ago. I mean, these days, movies seem more fond of gangsters. The only cop movies we see are big action comedies à la "Lethal Weapon". Maybe ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
James Bowman
Anyone who may still be treasuring fond memories of the 1950s has got to have a hard time of it in coming up against the tendency of late 20th century culture—which seems to be obsessed with the notion that that decade was a horrible time in ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at James Bowman
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
L.A. Confidential is an interesting police drama about three different police officers with three unique styles of law enforcement, all trying to solve a murder case while uncovering plenty of corruption in their 1950s Los Angeles Police Department. The ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Christian Spotlight on the Movies
DVD MovieGuide
Academy Awards: Winner of Best Supporting Actress-Kim Basinger, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium-Curtis Hanson, Brian Helgeland. Nominated for Best Picture-Curtis Hanson, Arnon Milchan, Michael G. Nathanson, Best Director-Curtis ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at DVD MovieGuide
The Magic of the Movies (Alex Christensen)
At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Film noir is not easy to do, especially in the modern age where color photography is a severe handicap. But to my utmost delight, I discovered that L.A. Confidential was nothing short of brilliant. This is the best film noir made in the modern day that ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews
The DVD Report (Britt Gillette)
Winner of two Academy Awards, and nominated for seven others, LA Confidential was the surprise thriller of 1997. Prior to American Beauty and Gladiator, Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe starred in this seedy crime and suspense film, one of the best of the ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The DVD Report (Britt Gillette)
Film Scouts (David Sterritt)
"L.A. Confidential" is a competently made genre piece that broke no fresh ground but offered the simple pleasures of commercial American cinema in reasonably lively form, complete with capable acting and the kind of zippy editing that non-Hollywood ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Film Scouts (David Sterritt)
Salon (Dwight Garner)
A movie that refuses to kick into gear until it's far too late. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Salon (Dwight Garner)
Movie-Vault.com (Aaron Graham)
In one of my favorite genres, film noir, director Curtis Hanson takes us into the dark streets of Los Angeles in a film that's worthy in the same breath as Chinatown. It was written by Hanson and Brian Helgeland from the novel by master noirist James ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Movie-Vault.com (Aaron Graham)
Dr. Daniel's Movie Emergency
Okay, here's the deal. I want you to take a good look out your window right now. What do you see? Well, as I'm writing this, it is the first day of fall. It's still kinda hot down here, but you can smell it in the air. My sniffer can hear fall a mile ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Dr. Daniel's Movie Emergency
Movie Review Index - Reviews from Top Critics
artechock (Borissa Hellmann)
Kim Basinger spielt Lynn, eine Edelprostituierte, die als lebende Kopie des Filmstars Veronica Lake ihre Freier erleichtert. Russell Crowe ist White, der etwas dumpfe Cop aus L.A.
Aber es geht um viel mehr, als nur um die beiden. Im L.A. der 50er Jahre ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at artechock (Borissa Hellmann)
Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)
Like Roman Polanski's "Chinatown," "L.A. Confidential" perfectly evokes a time and place. An engaging crime drama about corrupt cops set in the 1950's, "L.A. Confidential" transports us to another era bathed in exquisite period detail. Director Curtis ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)
Mr. Cranky
This film is about three cops in 1950's L.A. and a mysterious murder investigation that brings them together. When Bud White's (Russell Crowe) partner is killed at the Night Owl diner along with a bunch of other people, it appears to be a typical ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Mr. Cranky
Advocate/Weekly Newspapers Online
Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL is tightly directed by Curtis Hanson and features rich performances from its marvelous ensemble cast. Kevin Spacey is slick and smooth as detective Jack Vincennes, a man who has been seduced by the glamour of Hollywood and living for ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
Salon (Max Garrone)
You want backroom deals, civic corruption and wanton police violence? "L.A. Confidential" delivers them in spades. Adapted from James Ellroy's wicked take on Los Angeles' history, it's also informed by the kind of Angeleno apocalypse Mike Davis brought ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Salon (Max Garrone)
Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Highly praised detective thriller worthy of note for its good performances, general seriousness and success in rendering a complex plot in a comprehensible form, but not among the greatest masterpieces of Hollywood cinema, as many would have you believe. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
In 1950's Los Angeles, three police officers have their own distinctive style of dealing with their jobs. Jack Vincennes (KEVIN SPACEY) is a cop on the take from a tabloid owner/reporter, Sid Hudgeons (DANNY DEVITO), whose magazine "Hush Hush" ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
In Film Australia
Basically this film is a two-hour Yankee version of Blue Heelers with the cops trying to hunt down the robbers and murderers. Though this film possesses an added edge, mainly as it is heavily involved with Hollywood gossip and actors. Danny DeVito plays ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at In Film Australia
allesfilm.com (Markus Steiger)
Los Angeles in den 50ern. Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) ist neu beim LAPD. Er trägt eine Brille und wirkt wie ein streberischer Schleimer, der extrem korrekt ist und alles richtig machen will. Erste Probleme bekommt er mit dieser Einstellung, als er Kollegen ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at allesfilm.com (Markus Steiger)
Houston Chronicle
I know, I know, I'm on the record on this: I'm not supposed to like movies about other movies.
But L.A. Confidential is just so juicy that's there's plenty of liquid to help me swallow my principles.
The people who made this are so much like kids ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Houston Chronicle
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
A crime-drama, LA Confidential is adapted from the novel by James Ellroy. As always, Cranky makes no comparison with the source material -- but it must've been a hell of a book 'cuz it's a hell of a film.
From the title sequence on down, in which the ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
Film Scouts (Cari Beauchamp)
"L.A. Confidential" is one of the few major studio films in competition this year -- and that brings back all the historic ramifications of the Hollywood - France love-hate relationships. The studios hestitate to risk a big negative buzz from ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Film Scouts (Cari Beauchamp)
Bright Lights Film Journal
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See L.A. Confidential again...
Neo-noir as nightmare
...the first time
Superfriends
Superfriends up, up and away!
BY RAY DAVIS
The day after I ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Bright Lights Film Journal
The Flying Inkpot (Jack Choo)
Based on the book by author James Ellroy, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL is probably one of the best pieces of work produced by Hollywood in recent years. Together with director Curtis Hanson (THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, THE RIVER WILD) with whom Ellroy ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The Flying Inkpot (Jack Choo)
Teen Movie Critic (Mandy Heiser)
A tale of corrupt cops in the glamor of Hollywood....when Hollywood was glamorous, that is. Set in the 1950's, L.A. Confidential follows three cops (Kevin Spacey, Russel Crowe and Guy Pearce) investigating a massacre at a local cafe. It starts with just ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Teen Movie Critic (Mandy Heiser)
Films on Disc (Stuart J. Kobak)
Let's not mince words here. L.A. Confidential was unquestionably the best picture of 1997, hands down. At least the screenplay adaptation by director Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland received the Academy Award. From the dense James Ellroy novel, the ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Films on Disc (Stuart J. Kobak)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Fascinated by the spectacle of fallible men and fallen women trapped in a corrupt and heartless world that's too cold to care, filmmakers in every generation have never stopped reinventing film noir. From 1940s classics like "Out of the Past" (1947) ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
DVD Verdict (Nicholas Sylvain)
Evoking in immense detail the look and spirit of Los Angeles and Hollywood in the early 1950s, with a stunningly talented acting ensemble and a compelling story, L.A. Confidential is an absolutely reference quality film noir and a DVD that still sets a ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at DVD Verdict (Nicholas Sylvain)
Time Out
Dime store detective stories have inspired more great movies than Dostoevsky ever will, but local-boy-made-bad James Ellroy always seemed too tough a proposition for Hollywood to take on. Hanson's adaptation of Ellroy's most complex novel is a towering ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Time Out
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
L.A. Confidential is a big, long movie, full of great costumes and sets. You could call it a huge epic, but it's also a scrappy movie, full of energy as well as style. The movie gets to us through three fully-rounded characters that, in a lesser movie, ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
If Quentin Tarantino had directed "Chinatown," it might look and sound quite a bit like "L.A. Confidential."
Make no mistake. Despite its setting — 1950s Los Angeles and, in particular, the seamy underbelly of Hollywood — this is definitely ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Memphis Flyer (Hadley Hury)
Cinopsis
Los Angeles pendant les années cinquante. Ville de lumières et de paillettes transportée par le succès de Hollywood et de la télévision. Mais aussi ville obscure, pourrie par le crime, la prostitution, le chantage et la corruption. Alors que le ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Cinopsis
World Socialist Web Site
James Ellroy's crime novel, L.A. Confidential (1990), is a fast-paced and self-consciously raw work about Los Angeles in the 1950s. The book deals with the efforts by a number of Los Angeles policemen, over the course of five years or so, to solve a mass ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at World Socialist Web Site
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Here is an engrossing character-driven drama set in Hollywood during the 1950s. Curtis Hanson's screen adaptation of James Ellroy's densely plotted novel is richly atmospheric, beautifully acted, and well directed. Better than any other recent film this ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Anchorage Press (Lucian Childs)
Hanson and co-screenwriter Brian Helgeland (“Conspiracy Theoryâ€) have managed the daunting task of distilling Ellroy's Byzantine story of police corruption and gangland vice into an intelligible whole. The characters are what you would expect of the ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Anchorage Press (Lucian Childs)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
L.A. Confidential," co-scripted and directed by Curtis Hanson ("The River Wild," "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle"), is adapted from the complex crime novel by James Ellroy. Based in 1950's Los Angeles, the story deals with corruption in paradise as seen ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Edinburgh U Film Society (Keith Thomson)
The term "modern classic" is religiously used in today's cinema vocabulary, but it is rarely justified. LA Confidential is certainly an exception.
Curtis Hanson's take on James Ellroy's complex noir novel of police corruption and a series of ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Keith Thomson)
culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
Remember, dear readers, you heard it here first. Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.
So says Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito), publisher and writer of the L.A. sleaze magazine, Hush Hush, a weekly rag that rats on the stars, politicians, and ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
Images (Gary Johnson)
I was a little leery about L.A. Confidential. Director Curtis Hanson's career has been littered with mediocre movies, from the box-office hit Hand That Rocked the Cradle to the Meryl Streep action thriller The River Wild. But nothing had prepared me for ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Images (Gary Johnson)
Philadelphia City Paper (A.D. Amorosi)
We've been told that L.A. Confidential has all the noir symmetry, sinewy corruption and swift-kick dialogue of Roman Polanski's epic Chinatown. Despite similar themes of romance caught in a net of corruption and influence (and soundtrack composer Jerry ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Philadelphia City Paper (A.D. Amorosi)
Apollo Movie Guide (Elspeth Haughton)
Three Los Angeles police officers search for redemption in this poker-hot crime drama where hookers are cut to look like movie stars and someone is muscling the mobsters out of town. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Apollo Movie Guide (Elspeth Haughton)
Kino (Alessandro Bencivenni)
Finalmente! James Ellroy è uno dei massimi scrittori americani viventi, il cui talento va oltre i limiti del genere nero di cui è specialista; eppure finora tutti gli adattamenti dei suoi romanzi per il piccolo e il grande schermo erano stati deludenti. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Kino (Alessandro Bencivenni)
Salon.com (Dwight Garner)
"HARD BOILED CRIME FICTION," novelist James Ellroy has pronounced, "is the history of bad white men doing bad things in the name of authority." "L.A. Confidential," the new Curtis Hanson film based on Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same name, is something ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Salon.com (Dwight Garner)
Tempi Moderni
James Ellroy è, a nostro avviso, il maggior romanziere apparso sulla scene della narrativa statunitense nel corso degli ultimi vent'anni: con il trittico di Lloyd Hopkins prima (uno dei pannelli del quale, lo splendido "Le strade dell'innocenza", ha ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Tempi Moderni
BBC Films
showbiz of Tinseltown, the customers and staff of a seedy all-night diner are murdered in an apparently unexceptional gangster-style shoot-out. Three officers set about investigating the incident under the steely watchfulness of their captain, Dudley ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at BBC Films
The Boston Phoenix
After Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino's self-conscious deconstruction of what was already the most self-conscious and ironic of Hollywood genres, it seemed unlikely that anyone could make a film noir with a straight face. Almost all the faces are ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at The Boston Phoenix
MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
If there is one thing that you must do when you watch "L.A. Confidential", the cinematic adaptation of James Ellroy's Fifties noirish crime saga, it is this: YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION. A momentary lapse in your focus, or a brief hiatus to the restroom at an ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
Expanded Cinemah
Distretto di polizia di L.A.. Una sparatoria in un locale, con diverse vittime, suscita l’interesse dell’opinione pubblica quanto quella della sezione omicidi. Tra i cadaveri è riconosciuto un funzionario di polizia. Ed Exley, giovane poliziotto in ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Expanded Cinemah
reVision
L.A. Confidential come un giornale scandalistico che fruga nel torbido della grande città . L.A. Confidential come "Hush-Hush", Zitti-Zitti, rivista di pettegolezzi specializzata in colpi ad effetto. E' la Los Angeles dei primi anni Cinquanta, una città ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at reVision
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
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. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Future Movies (Jay Richardson)
There has been much comment about L.A. Confidential's style -- particularly the palpable authenticity of its sense of time (it is set in the early 1950s) -- and deservedly so. From the upholstery on a diner's banquettes to the bands on men's hats, from ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Future Movies (Jay Richardson)
filmdeculte.com (Peter Dourountzis)
997 aurait pu être l’année de L.A. Confidential. A chaque nouvelle vision du film de Hanson, l’euphorie d’une cinéphilie comblée fait se poser inlassablement les mêmes questions: pourquoi le film a-t-il reçu si peu d’Oscars, tant il est ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at filmdeculte.com (Peter Dourountzis)
CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Mariela Bernardini)
Dire che "L.A. Confidential" è un capolavoro è veramente poco. E' uno di quei film che ti coinvolge completamente, al punto di volerlo rivedere subito dopo aver finito di leggere i titoli di coda!
Negli anni '50 un gruppo di poliziotti si trova a ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Mariela Bernardini)
El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
Boxoffice Magazine
Adapted from the novel by James Ellroy, Curtis Hanson's dark and moody "L.A. Confidential" is a top-notch thriller, an intricate tale of corruption, lust and betrayal that thematically recalls vintage film noir while stylistically coming closer to Roman ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
Box Office Magazine
Adapted from the novel by James Ellroy, Curtis Hanson's dark and moody "L.A. Confidential" is a top-notch thriller, an intricate tale of corruption, lust and betrayal that thematically recalls vintage film noir while stylistically coming closer to Roman ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Box Office Magazine
Megaklik - no nonsense movie reviews in Slovene
V petdesetih sta se pod bleÅ¡ÄeÄo fasado Los Angelesa, mesta angelov, skrivala splet nizkih Äustev, izsiljevanj in korupcije ter vnetljiva zmes resniÄnosti in fikcije. Oboje sta pogojila hollywoodski vzpon ter gospodarska rast povojne Amerike. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Megaklik - no nonsense movie reviews in Slovene
Mutant Reviewers From Hell
L.A. Confidential is a cop drama (a genre I absolutely ADORE (sense the sarcasm?)) focused on three cops in particular: Bud White (Russell Crowe), Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey). Okay, with those three names right there you KNOW ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Mutant Reviewers From Hell
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
The appeal of “L.A. Confidential†is not based upon its social or spiritual values.
Having received nine Oscar nominations along with nearly 40 other awards and nominations, it is clear that this film is considered a masterpiece by ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
L.A. Confidential" is a cop story so full of time and texture, so full of good acting and direction that its reach extends far beyond Los Angeles, 1954. It was there and then, after all, that the odious celebrity culture we know today first sprouted, ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
Needcoffee.com - Movie Review
One of the best stories I have seen on the screen in a long time. And a refreshing change of pace from all of the crapola we've been given this year. Despite considering myself a movie geek of the second degree--Hanson, Crowe, Pearce--who are these ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Needcoffee.com - Movie Review
Jamie Peck
In the down-and-dirty "L.A. Confidential," almost nobody is without blemish. The good guys are bad, the bad guys are worse and practically everyone's actions hide a shady hidden agenda. But don't think of the film's surplus of complex facets as confusing ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Jamie Peck
Edward Johnson-Ott
In "L.A. Confidential", James Ellroy's novel of police corruption in 1950's Hollywood becomes a powerful, stylish film with dazzling acting from an exceptional cast. Gorgeous art direction highlights the lurid pulp tone of this complex, violent tale. ...read the complete L.A. Confidential movie review at Edward Johnson-Ott
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