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L.A. Confidential [Region 2] | ![L.A. Confidential [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MWYS71JHL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Curtis Hanson
Actors: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, James Cromwell
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  343 reviews
Format: Letterboxed, NTSC
Languages: Italian (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Arabic (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Running Time: 138 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
EAN: 7321950149131
ASIN: B00004VYN3
Theatrical Release Date: September 19, 1997
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Amazon.com essential video
In a time when it seems that every other movie makes some claim to being a film noir, L.A. Confidential is the real thing--a gritty, sordid tale of sex, scandal, betrayal, and corruption of all sorts (police, political, press--and, of course, very personal) in 1940s Hollywood. The Oscar-winning screenplay is actually based on several titles in James Ellroy's series of chronological thriller novels (including the title volume, The Big Nowhere, and White Jazz)--a compelling blend of L.A. history and pulp fiction that has earned it comparisons to the greatest of all Technicolor noir films, Chinatown. Kim Basinger richly deserved her Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a conflicted femme fatale; unfortunately, her male costars are so uniformly fine that they may have canceled each other out with the Academy voters: Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, and James Cromwell play LAPD officers of varying stripes. Pearce's character is a particularly intriguing study in Hollywood amorality and ambition, a strait-laced "hero" (and son of a departmental legend) whose career goals outweigh all other moral, ethical, and legal considerations. If he's a good guy, it's only because he sees it as the quickest route to a promotion. --Jim Emerson
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 343
 L.A. Confidential January 11, 2010
M. G. Swift (Little Rock, AR)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I picked up a copy of the book at a used book sale. It was hard to put down once I started reading. When I finished, I wanted to see the movie - Kevin Spacey is one of my favorite actors. Amazon had it, and in two days I received it. The setting was in the 1940s and '50s; I lived through those years and remembered reading about some of the "gangsters", i.e. Lana Turner's daughtered killed Stompanato; the cars, the scenes were great. The movie followed the story line very well, not deviating too much. This set also has a CD with the pilot of the television series that followed - I don't remember that. The musical score was wonderful and that was also included in the 2-disc set. I'll be watching this again and again; you can't see everything the first time. Good movie - Guy Pearce was great, too!
Very Happy January 10, 2010
V V Gogh (Chapel Hill, NC)
Shipped quickly and the item was in the condition described, which matches my criteria for an excellent transaction. Thank you.
Dark Noir in the L.A. Sunshine January 7, 2010
Bobby Underwood (Manly NSW, Australia)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was the best film made in '97 but like Polanski's "Chinatown" it is destined to become one of the finest movies not to take the Oscar home. Curtis Hanson took James Ellroy's novel, a book many doubted could be translated to the film medium, and crafted one of the finest adapted screenplays ever written. He then brought on board a couple of Aussie unknowns, a gorgeous star who had never lived up to her potential, and one of the finest actors working in film today. The result is one of the darkest noir films of all time shot with the blinding L.A. sun as a backdrop.
The end result is a dark and twisted tale of personal redemption told against the backdrop of the bright lights and sunshine of Hollywood in the early 1950's. Hanson contrasted the brightly lit exteriors with Ellroy's dark storyline of police corruption and Hollywood decadence. This is a movie about facade, not just Hollywood's but our own personal front as well.
Russell Crowe became a star as Detective Bud White, a tough cop willing to do whatever was necessary, which was in stark contrast to his politically minded colleague Guy Pearce. He finds Bud archaic, representing everything about the force he wants to change. What may stop him from doing so is his investigation into the murder of several people at The Night Owl cafe, one of whom is Crowe's partner, kicked off the force after a well publicized jail brawl christened given the handle "Bloody Christmas" by the papers.
Crowe and Pearce come at it from different angles but the road for both leads right to beautiful Kim Basinger and a millionaire in the lush Hollywood hills played by David Strathairn. There is a reason Basinger looks a little like Veronica Lake the first time we see her in this film; she's supposed to. Hollywood legend has it that a string of expensive call girls were cut to look like stars during the 1940's and early 1950's and Hanson has made this darker side of Hollywood part of the story. Basinger is one of the lucky ones; close enough to the actual look of Veronica Lake not to have been cut on.
Crowe falls for the real girl inside Basinger, but in spite of her opulent lifestyle, her low self-esteem comes to the forefront when she sleeps with Pearce in an attempt to "help" Crowe. We realize as she nearly destroys Crowe by doing so that she perceives herself as a whore on the inside, beneath the facade. Her logic is as twisted and tainted as the corruption Crowe and Pierce are about to uncover as they follow the trail linking Basinger's boss Strathairn to the Night Owl killings and the vice surrounding them on every side.
Basinger may have garnered the Oscar for her role, but Crowe's performance as the tough cop with some soft spots after all is something you'll always remember. The coolest job done here, however, is by Kevin Spacey. Hanson told him before filming began to think Dean Martin and he'd have it down pat. Spacey did just that, playing the ultra cool cop, the one in the tabloids for his Hollywood connections. He is a consultant on the TV show "Badge of Honor" (think Dragnet) and is hooked up with slimy but likeable Danny DeVito, a writer for a Hollywood tabloid. Spacey grabs the spotlight and DeVito gets the headlines as Spacy collars Hollywood stars in compromising situations, DeVito's camera flashing.
Spacey seemingly has it all, but like the rest of this film, it is just a facade. While sitting in a bar listening to Dean Martin in the background he looks up into the mirror behind the counter and doesn't like what is staring back at him. He has all the tools to be a great cop but he knows he has sold his soul for the fifty in front of him. He becomes involved in the case because of a murder in a hotel room he feels responsible for that leads right back to the Night Owl, and hooks up with Pearce to redeem his soul. You will never forget the name "Rollo Tomasi" or what it means for Pearce, and ultimately Spacey in this film.
Adding to the atmosphere more than just a little is the score by Jerry Goldsmith, his finest work since "Chinatown" and just as haunting. It does more than help enhance the atmosphere, it truly is the atmosphere of this one of a kind masterpiece. This film has the kind of ending dreams are made of and someone holding up their badge to the oncoming rush of cop cars in the Hollywood hills at night is a scene you'll never forget.
There is not a bad performance in this film. It is complex and riveting. If you haven't seen this before, don't rent it, buy it. You'll watch it over and over. But don't tell anyone. This is Off the Record, On the QT, and Very Hush Hush!
 Too Much Violence Against Women December 5, 2009
T.R. Hammer
1 out of 18 found this review helpful
How much violence against women is too much? Rita Hayworth lookalike Susan Lefferts (Amber Smith) gets murdered. Veronica Lake lookalike Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) gets knocked around. A young girl gets raped and you have to watch her emotional pain afterwards as she's lying in a bed, bound and gagged, in silent agony, and a black man in another room is laughing.
But all this is forgiven because the cops hate women-beaters and they're out to get the bad guys?
Old Hollywood Revealed October 22, 2009
Kardia Williams (Philadelphia, PA)
This movie is a fascinating look into old Hollywood and yellow journalism. Danny Devito was at his best, playing a tabloid journalist that was willing to "get the scoop" at all cost. A classic!!!
Reviewed by Kardia Williams
Showing reviews 1-5 of 343
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