L.A. Confidential (1997)

Who else caught this one? Personally, I thought it was a fantastic movie! Russell Crowe really stole the show for me—it’s not like he even had to try to pull off that cold, detached vibe 🙂; the rest of the cast was top-notch too. My only gripe is that the pacing drags a bit toward the end when they start the whole shootout in that cabin and everyone starts dropping 🙄.
I actually missed the last five minutes, so I had to go around bugging people just to find out how it all wrapped up 🙂.

So, what do you guys think?

Well... when you have a cast like that, set in a time and place like this, even a mediocre script would be enough to make the movie feel perfect...

That said, I do think it’s missing a tiny bit of something, but personally, I thought it was fantastic. I actually watched it for the fourth time yesterday, if I recall correctly... I had to record it because I couldn't sit through the beginning at first, so I caught up on the start later and ended up watching another half hour later that same day 😁

Besides, I’ve always been a huge fan of Spacey, which makes the film even more special to me 🙂

Hands down, one of the absolute best movies from the 90s

👍 This film is hands down one of the best I've ever seen.

Besides Braveheart, obviously... 🙂

It’s great.

The only thing is, IMO the ending feels a bit rushed. I wouldn't have minded if it dragged on for another three hours. 🙂

Absolute cinema. After watching it, I went back and devoured everything by James Ellroy available here, and I can't recommend his work enough to anyone who loved the movie.

graniteangler10 said:It’s excellent.

In my opinion, the ending feels a little rushed. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if it dragged on for another three hours. 🙂

Seriously though, toward the end, it felt like they were intentionally rushing through the plot just so they could wrap things up and get out of there.

I tried watching that movie once a long time ago, and after just thirty minutes, I realized it was one of the most boring films ever made. I had zero interest in giving it another shot. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever sit through it again.

steelcanyon92 said:Honestly, I don't think I'm ever even going to watch it.

Maybe you should just stop watching movies altogether. Honestly, at this point, it feels like you're just spinning your wheels for nothing...🙄

When I first caught this in the theater, it was easily my favorite movie of all time. Since then, it’s slipped down the rankings—it's not even in my top 10 anymore (I've seen a massive amount of films since then, so that's not surprising)—but it still holds its own within my top 15 best movies ever...

Kim Basinger and Kevin Spacey deliver truly stunning performances, and Curtis Hanson’s direction is incredible; honestly, it's one of the best-directed films I've ever seen...

Absolute masterpiece 🙂
I've already watched it four times—and honestly? I’ll probably dive back in again soon.

Solid movie. Spacey is incredible, and honestly, Crowe holds his own too.
I watched it on DVD, and there’s this whole behind-the-scenes featurette at the end—it's pretty cool stuff. I guess my only gripe is that Hanson can be a bit much sometimes... he just has this way of being exhausting, you know? But hey, the guy definitely knows how to make a movie (though, if I'm being real, maybe *Glengarry Glen Ross* is still my absolute favorite of his).👍

Finished reading L.A. Confidential about a week or two ago. James Ellroy basically said it himself—the movie is damn good, but the book is even better. Not that he’s being humble, but honestly, why would he be?

Hanson and his buddy screenwriter—who was actually a pro fisherman before surviving a brutal storm and deciding to write scripts instead 😁—really pulled it off. I mean, let's face it, you can't turn a book like this into a movie without some seriously bold changes.

A few differences between the flick and the book (don't read this if you haven't seen the movie):

Ed Exley's father is ALIVE in the book! He isn't killed at all. Rollo Tomasi is just something the writers threw in. And Dudley doesn't kill Great V. in the book. 😁
Stensland is actually a combination of two different characters from the book. In the book, Stensland ends up in the electric chair—which was actually Ed Exley's doing.
That one gay actor also doesn't exist in the book. Another script tweak right there.
Plus, Great V. marries the younger daughter of that DA. And get this—early in his career, Great V. was a total alcoholic and drug user, and one night while waiting for a heist, he accidentally killed two innocent people. Everything was covered up, he quit drinking, and started sending anonymous checks to the victims' families every month. ruggedjack46 had a file on that.
Man, there's so much more in the book... it's wild. 😁
Ed Exley lived with a Mexican woman for a couple of years.
There are at least ten major characters who aren't even mentioned in the book. And that final showdown? Doesn't happen in the book at all. 😁

Even with all those changes, they actually managed to capture the essence of the book. Mad respect to them! 👍

The book is 500 pages, so it takes a bit to get through (though the font is huge 😁 😁), and if you really want to wrap your head around it, you'd have to map out all the characters and read it a few times. For instance, there's this super important character—the unstable son of Exley's father's partner, who turns out to be a serial killer—but he's totally gone in the movie. Him, the father, the partner... all wiped. 😁 😁

Great V. dies a hero, stopping Mickey Cohen from breaking out of prison! 😲

By the way, Bloody Christmas actually happened. And Stompato was a real guy, and he was definitely seeing Ian Turner.

Anyway, folks. Sorry if I misspelled anyone's name.

waso, were you reading a translation or was it in English?

I just finished reading Black Dahlia—honestly, I have nothing but respect for whoever managed to turn that story into such a meaningful screenplay.

Richard Hernandez13 said:I've read Black Dahlia—huge props to whoever turned that into a decent screenplay.

Is it actually any good though? Is there an American translation available? Jose Miller3, I read the translation, not the original.

Anyway, Black Dahlia is the first one in the L.A. Quartet, so here's the breakdown:

Black Dahlia 1987 Although it's the slowest narrative of the L.A. Quartet, Black Dahlia was a watershed novel for Ellroy. In Black Dahlia, his prose is more economic and his portrayal of police officers less apologetic. If you have never read James Ellroy, Black Dahlia is a great place to start.

The Big Nowhere 1988 Ellroy takes on homophobia in the 50's. Every novel leading up to the Big Nowhere, seems experimental in contrast. With this book, Ellroy seemed to have found his stride writing layered plots and employing multiple perspectives. It worked so well for him that he continued to write three more great novels in this style. In my opinion, this is Ellroy's first classic.

L.A. Confidential 1990 Inspiration for the eponymous film. This is the most comic novel in the L.A. Quartet, parodying everyone from the L.A. mob to Walt Disney. Written in the same fast-paced style as The Big Nowhere, the story is worthy of Hammett.

White Jazz 1992 The conclusion of the L.A. Quartet. When his editor asked Ellroy to shorten his 900 page work to 350, Ellroy did so by eliminating the verbs. Stylistically, it's the strangest prose Ellroy's writing, but it's characters and stories are as rich as any in the Quartet.

I watched Brown's Requiem once—pretty sure it came out right after L.A. Confidential, but I can't quite remember. Honestly, it was so intense I ended up turning it off halfway through. 😁 😁

Since L.A. Confidential is easily in my top five movies from the 90s—and honestly, probably even higher depending on the day—here is a 👍

Russell Crowe is just incredible, Guy Pearce is great too, but Spacey is definitely the best!!

I think I agree with dustyscout53 regarding the book. It's pretty rare to find a movie based on a novel that actually turns out this good.

dustyscout53 said:Is it actually any good? And has it been released here in the States yet?

I have to say, this book is absolutely fantastic.

By the way, the entire L.A. Quartet has been translated over here in the States.

James Ellroy basically took one cold case—a real-life crime that was never actually solved—and used it as the foundation for every single book in the L.A. Quartet. DahliaSo, to be specific, we’re talking about the murder of Elizabeth Short, who was found at some intersection in L.A. back in the late forties, looking absolutely horrific—completely mutilated, sliced in half, and with her organs removed. Sounds like a real blast, doesn't it?
Even though there’s a little bit of everything packed into the pages, the book really just centers on sex and all its messy, twisted side effects—we're talking pornography, sex tourism down in Mexico, incest, and pure promiscuity.

Because he packs his books with such an incredible amount of authentic detail, some people have actually started calling Ellroy's novels nothing more than historical fiction wrapped up in a gritty crime plot.

...
Speaking of movie adaptations, I remember seeing one a few years back. Dark Blue hanging out with Kurt Russell.

I didn't even know about the L.A. Quartet.
That's good to know, I might have to pick up the other books too 👍

kozz said:Man, this book is killer. Seriously—it's such a great read.

Basically, the whole LA quartet just moved over to our side—funny how that works, right?

Let's go!
Sweet. 👍
Bet there's some version of that out in my neck of the woods too—right?

kozz said:Wasn't there already a movie version of that a few years back? Blue Origin hanging out with Kurt Russell.

Is that movie even hitting theaters here? I have my doubts—probably not, right? 😢
Dark Blue? A sequel to Deep Blue.😁 😁