Movie #157: L.A. Confidential

Movie #: 157
Movie Title: L.A. Confidential
Year Released: 1997

Director: Curtis Hanson
Notable Cast: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, David Strathairn, Ron Rifkin

Short Description: As corruption grows in 1950s LA, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #81
Ranker.com: #93
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #84
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A

Note: This is the first movie on my list to appear on three of the top 100 lists I used to compile the 251 movies I’m watching.



Date Watched: 3/6/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: While I disagree with anti-Titanic fans that L.A. Confidential should have instead won the Oscar for Best Picture, L.A. Confidential was a good movie that got better and better as the pieces started fitting together. By no means was this an episode of Law and Order with a twist at the end; the bad guy is well implied and no surprise is revealed, but that doesn’t affect the suspense and build up to the showdown between the law and corruption in the L.A. police force. Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce all hold their own well as lead characters and I would expect nothing less from a fine group of actors.