Travel back in time to Los Angeles in the 1950s. You may also want to go back to a time when the name Russell Crowe would’ve brought a look of confusion to your face. Director Curtis Hanson succeeded in making Crowe a household name, winning Kim Basinger an Oscar, and making a fantastic film.
A multiple murder at the Night Owl coffee shop exposes the seamy underbelly of 1950s Los Angeles. Three detectives investigate the bloody crime and each finds that blood leaves a dark stain.
Officer Wendell “Bud” White (Russell Crowe) is a brutal thug of a cop on Captain Dudley Smith’s (James Cromwell) force. Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a cop that’s gone Hollywood who moonlights as technical advisor on the show Badge of Honor and is also on the payroll of gossip monger Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito) of Hush-Hush magazine. Sergeant Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is a driven officer who lives in the shadow of his famous father, a legendary LAPD officer, and believes in following regulations, even to be stool pigeon on a police brutality case. Needless to say, his testimony is not looked well upon by the rest of the force.
All three detectives pursue the case and end up uncovering levels of corruption stemming from the murders. Bud investigates one of the victims of the murders and ends up being led to Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger), a call girl who looks like Veronica Lake whose Johns like to think so as well.
Vincennes follows a pornography racket that involves Bracken’s pimp Pierce Prachett (David Strathairn) and his stable of call girls made to look like movie stars. Exley’s sense of justice drives him to find out who committed the atrocious crime. Their investigations will lead them onto a ladder of corruption that stretches to places that none of them imagined.
It doesn’t look like one, but L.A. Confidential harkens back to those classic Hollywood films of yesteryear. It’s not mistake that the Bad and the Beautiful appears on a marquee during the film - though it couldn’t have been made in those times as the Breen Office would’ve had a field day.
Hollywood is always a fine inspiration for these sort of films as the plastic face it puts forward never looks like the real visage that boils beneath the mask. If it were in black and white we might firmly call it a noir, but there are definitely noir elements in the fantastic plot. I always lean towards calling it a “Hollywood blockbuster.”
I’ve always liked it when we look back at old Hollywood and this film shows us that controversy and naughty behavior wasn’t exactly invented by the folks we currently see on the cover of the rags in the check out line.
Hard to believe that Crowe was a relative unknown when the film hit screens, but this powerful performance and others put his star in ascension. Guy Pearce also shows a great degree of talent and also made him a name to watch. Spacey adds another excellent character to his resume and its disappointing as to what happens to him.
I’ve not read Ellroy’s novel but the special features tell that they made a masterful summation of a massive novel. It should’ve won best picture at Oscar time, but the cinematic juggernaut of a little boat called Titanic made sure that wasn’t in the cards.
Kim Basinger well deserved her gold statue (and I’m not one of her fans as she drove me nuts in Batman, oomph!) as well as Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland for their adaptation of Ellroy’s book. The new release adds some excellent new special features to the mix, how can you resist?
L.A. Confidential is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features are spread across three discs.
Disc one has a commentary by critic/historian Andrew Sarris, author James Ellroy, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, costume designer Ruth Myers, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, screenwriter Brian Helgeland, production designer Jeannine Oppewall, cinematographer Dante Spinotti and Danny DeVito.
There’s also a music-only track showcasing Jerry Goldsmith's evocative score. Finally, there’s a trailer gallery. Disc two starts off with the new 29 minute “Whatever You Desire” that details the making of the film. The 21 minute “Sunlight and Shadow” focuses on the cinematography. The 24 minute “A True Ensemble” looks at the actors. The 21 minute “From Book to Screen” shows what the screenwriters had to do condense Ellroy’s book.
The 18 minute “Off the Record” is a making of from the previous DVD release. The 8 minute “Photo Pitch,” also from the other release, is Hanson’s pitch using pictures of old L.A. as he tried to get studios to make the film. There’s also an interactive map of the locations used in the film (also on the old release).
A new addition is the 46 minute pilot episode of a L.A. Confidential television show that didn’t get picked up. It stars Keifer Sutherland. A third disc offers some of the music from the film, including tunes from Dean Martin, Chet Baker, and Jackie Gleason.
Talk about an offer you can’t refuse! This new edition of L.A. Confidential offers an excellent film and special features. It even has some tunes for your listening pleasure, though my record player only produced screeching. This is one that you can’t stay hush-hushed about and need to shout to the rooftops that you need to buy this new DVD. Don’t keep it on the QT.
L.A. Confidential (Two-Disc Special Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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