L.A. Confidential (released in theaters on September 19, 1997) is a stylish, brutal, and deeply layered exploration of 1950s Los Angeles, a city where the glittering Hollywood facade hides a roiling underbelly of corruption, racism, and systemic violence.
The story follows three vastly different detectives within the LAPD who are drawn together by a mass murder at the Night Owl Coffee Shop.
Bud White (Russell Crowe) is a volatile “enforcer” with a protective streak for women; Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is an ambitious, rule-abiding “straight arrow” despised by his peers; and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a celebrity-obsessed narcotics cop who moonlights as a consultant for a tabloid rag run by Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito).
As the investigation into the Night Owl massacre unfolds, the trio discovers that the case is not a simple robbery gone wrong, but a thread in a much larger tapestry of municipal rot.
Their paths cross with Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger), a high-class call girl part of a “movie star look-alike” ring, whose connection to the case forces Bud and Ed into a tense, romantic rivalry.
Under the watchful eye of Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell), the detectives realize that the criminals they are hunting may actually be wearing badges.
Forced to set aside their mutual loathing, they form an uneasy alliance to uncover a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of the city’s power structure, leading to a bloody, high-stakes shootout that changes all of their lives forever.
David Strathairn, Ron Rifkin, Graham Beckel, Paul Guilfoyle, Matt McCoy, Jim Metzler and Simon Baker round out the cast.
Director Curtis Hanson achieved the impossible by distilling James Ellroy’s sprawling, complex novel into a cinematic masterpiece.
L.A. Confidential earned nine Academy Award nominations, winning Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Basinger.
Titanic won in every other category for which L.A. Confidential was nominated.
Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential (Photo/Warner Bros.)
Reception for L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential grossed $5.2 million on its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office.
The film would gross $126.2 million worldwide.
Roger Ebert gave L.A. Confidential four out of four stars in his review.
Lasting Legacy
The legacy of L.A. Confidential is its status as the definitive modern neo-noir, often cited alongside Chinatown as a perfect example of the genre.
The film is credited with launching the international careers of Crowe and Pearce, who delivered powerhouse performances that redefined the “tough guy” and “principled hero” archetypes for the 1990s.
Beyond the awards, the film is celebrated for its incredible period authenticity and its refusal to simplify the moral ambiguity of its characters. It revived a dying interest in hard-boiled crime fiction and proved that an ensemble piece could be both commercially viable and intellectually demanding.
L.A. Confidential remains a “perfect movie” in the eyes of many critics, a masterclass in pacing, atmosphere, and narrative complexity that continues to influence every police procedural and crime drama produced in its wake.
