L.A. Confidential

Yeah, I got it after a second screening. A brilliant crime drama with a sophisticated script and the wonderful atmosphere of 1950s L.A., the film's main strength. The same can be said of the perfect cast lead by Crowe’s macho protector of women, he’s flawless. Guy Pearce outdoes himself here, this role opened him the door to the acting elite for a while, before it embarrassingly slammed in his face again a few years later. I am not giving this 5* just because the fairly similar Polanski's Chinatown is a notch better. (13.04.2003)

Directed in a clear, formally "retro-cool" style, the plot is multi-layered yet still engaging, and the acting is perfectly precise. It deftly makes 1950s America and the City of Angels into an alluring backdrop, within whose seemingly heavenly purity lies the dirtiness of a morality to which human life, let alone the law are sacred. Over the expansive 130-minute runtime, Hanson fleshes out the characters of the police officers, who surely deserved better personal histories than the boilerplate phrase about an abused child's sordid past or an exemplary son following in his father's footsteps. This is only broken by Kevin Spacey's cynical, self-righteous Jack Vincennes when, when asked why he joined the police, he replies "I don't really remember." Yet even that doesn't stop the film from captivating us with every frame, from breathing its amazing atmosphere onto audiences, but also making them wonder how the hell Kim Basinger could win an Oscar for such a role. PS: For me, the moment when Bud White breaks the chair is one of the most iconic moments of cinema. (07.12.2006)

Chichi, wer möchte denn nicht ein harter Kerl wie Bud White sein? Kriminelle mit einer steinharten Faust zerschmettern und mit derselben Hand Frauen sanft beschützen? Russell Crowe hat hier exakt den Typ ausgemalt, der ihm Ruhm eingebracht hat, den Typ eines unzerbrechlichen harten Kerls mit Charakter. Guy Pearce, der vulgo Leutnant Exley ist sein ausgezeichnetes Pendant, eben schleimig, glattgebügelt, verschlagen ... L.A. Confidential fährt auf deren gemeinsamer Energie ab, die anfangs abstoßend, später jedoch vereinheitlichend wirkt und zu einem tödlichen Haudrauftrupp avanciert. Die scheinbar uneinheitliche Geschichte, die in alle Richtungen sprüht, harmoniert im Finale perfekt und gipfelt in einem großartigen Schussgefechtsgambit. Aus den Genrebildern von L.A. Sinful People wird somit schließlich eine gut pointierte Detektivstory mit einer schönen Wendung. Curtis Hanson hat sich als ein riesiger Macher erwiesen, seine Regieführung hat Swing, die Bilder wechseln sich mit lebhafter Action und überzeugendem Retro ab ... es ist schlichtweg ein großes "dirty" Polizeiparade. Rau, unkompliziert und anmutig, wie das Gesäß von Kim Basinger. Ach du grüne Neune! (04.11.2007)

A stubborn gorilla with common sense, a crafty opportunist and a hypocritical, calculating careerist par excellence. All with a cop’s badge and doing things their own way. And all of them unknowingly working on the same case. A (non)noir multi-genre movie that in terms of plot and star-studded cast (and not just those in the main roles) was easily enough to make a trio of excellent movies, each of which could aspire to being a crime classic. Simply three in one in the form of a movie not to be missed, its only fault being that it didn’t finish one minute sooner - it could have avoided the undignified ending. And also a practical demonstration of “how to adapt a complex novel (Ellroy’s best - no less ingenious and ten times more complex) overflowing with characters, events and story for the big screen". (09.04.2011)

Gangster film as it should be - bloody, sometimes even brutal, with tough heroes, inconspicuous traitors, a beautiful femme fatale, and a brilliant shootout at the end. Exactly the type of movie where you give it the highest rating without hesitation at the end and the only thing you can say about it is that it is simply divine... (28.08.2006)

A top-notch crime movie with an excellent cast. I must admit that I sometimes got a little lost in the sea of names and twists, but in the end everything turned out well when I found my feet again and continued watching with eyes out on stalks, watching them get to the bottom of this clever case. A flawless work. (14.02.2010)

One of the best crime movies I have ever seen, and also one of the best scripts. Complex, mysterious, unpredictable, yet not confusing, it can be understood with a little attention. Personally, (hough it is a very similar movie) better than The Usual Suspects, because whereas that one mainly benefited from its shocking ending, here everything is carefully dissected, making the whole a little better. Curtis Hanson made a great film, one of the best crime movies and one of the most accomplished scripts ever. (22.07.2004)

A film so perfect that I'd like to climb each letter of the Hollywood sign in turn and salute it at length over the City of Angels. The retro atmosphere is so captivating that in the nineties it must have set the old generation's loins on fire. The actors are absolutely fabulous, from the characterful tough-guy Crowe to the role model Pearce and the cool playboy Spacey to the cold-blooded Cromwell, the direction is as polished as a pop star's fingernails (the scene with the corpse under the house is heart-attack inducing), and then there’s the script!! One bloody event unleashes an unreadable chain of intrigue and murder in which everyone is somehow implicated, and it's so damn wonderful to watch, thanks to the slowly unfolding communicativeness, the rhythmic switches between multiple storylines, and the superb portrayal of all the characters, that when it's over it seems the most sensible course of action to watch it again immediately. The only thing that’s beyond my comprehension is the Oscar for Basinger, the Academy must have had some kind of extended version where she's naked in the shower for 15 minutes, otherwise I don't get it... 100% (08.05.2011)

Just as the sunny and idyllic suburban Los Angeles makes a beautiful mask for domestic violence, Mexican women strapped to the bed, dead bodies in the basement, and a pile of gunmen in the public toilets, a cop's musty, rotten, and lost soul is framed by the aura of good intentions that got him to join the force in the first place. Touching; today's movies work the exact opposite way. (19.06.2010)

One of the themes of this film is organized crime. After all, it is about controlling Mickey Cohen's activities. Police corruption takes the lead role, though. I'm not exactly a fan of Russell Crowe, to put it mildly, but the film is so perfect that I actually liked him in it, too. A stellar cast, excellent writing and direction, perfect retro vibe, not a single dull moment. I can't find any fault with this film. L. A. Confidential is definitely one of my favorite crime movies. (23.07.2017)

This movie didn't completely captivate me, even though there are undeniably many great elements to it. The plot, which has a twist, is just right and it's especially well revealed. However, the excellent characters, which are portrayed even better, are the foundation. There was no mistake made with any of the actors appearing in the film. Additionally, there is a stunning set design, which truly takes you back in time to the right era. (15.12.2015)

An excellent crime drama that is truly one of the best in its genre. From the script, to the choice of actors, to the superbly evoked atmosphere, to Curtis Hanson's directing, L.A. Confidential is truly near perfect. The last 40 minutes or so are the ultimate. :) (26.01.2010)