Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7390 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-01
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic
• Dubbed in: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
In a time when it seems that every other movie makes some claim to being a film noir, LA 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 LA history and pulp fiction that has earned it comparisons to the greatest of all Technicolour 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

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
French\Italian
English\Italian
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French Italian
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Production Notes
Scene Access
Music Only Soundtrack
TV Spots
Three Featurettes
Arabic\Dutch\English\French\Italian\Portuguese\Spanish

Synopsis
Director Curtis Hanson captures the duality of 1950s Los Angeles in this striking film noir adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. The City of Angels might be sunny, inviting, and glamorous to the rest of the world, but it's also filled with corrupt cops, elegant hookers, murder cover-ups, and manipulative paparazzi, all of which are just the tip of the iceberg. It's impossible to know exactly who's trustworthy and who's not as three detectives (Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce) each use their own tactics to investigate a coffee-shop massacre.
Hanson and Brian Helgeland's script maintains the fragile framework of human relationships developed in the novel. The 45 locations used in shooting maintain the solid tone and integrity of the film, immersing the viewer in 1950s Los Angeles. The entire cast is first-rate, with compelling performances from Spacey, Crowe, Pearce, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger, and David Strathairn.

Customer Reviews

They don't make them like this anymore...
Where do I start? This is one of those 'they don't make them like that anymore' movies - but, thankfully, sometimes they do. LA Confidential boasts a cast to die for - Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, Danny Devito and the surprise hit of the movie, Guy Pearce - better known in the UK for his term in the execrable TV soap Neighbours. Set in film noir-era Los Angeles, it tells the dark and winding tale of corruption in the LAPD. Pearce is the high-flying young idealogical cop who insists on taking on the powers-that-be to expose the corruption at the heart of the LAPD - and isn't afraid of incurring the wrath of his colleagues. As the film goes on, some unlikely alliances are formed. This is a wonderful engaging drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. All the performances are absolutely outstanding - from the flamboyant Spacey and officious Pearce to the volcanic Crowe and the Oscar-winning Basinger. The DVD has the usual good picture and sound quality. The extras are nothing to write home about but worth a look - trailers, an interactive map of LA, a 'making of' feature and various bios. Good DVD - absolutely outstanding movie.

Dark Noir in Bright Daylight
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 co-wrote one of the finest adapted screenplays ever done. He then brought on board a couple of Aussie unknowns, a gorgeous star who had never lived up to her potential, maybe the finest actor working today, and began filming one of the darkest noir films of all time, in sun drenched daylight!

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 '50's. Hanson contrasts the brightly lit exteriors with the dark storyline of police corruption and Hollywood decadence. This is a movie about facade, not just Hollywood's but our own personal facade as well.

Russell Crowe became a star as LA Detective Bud White, a tough cop willing to do whatever is necessary, something the political up and comer Guy Pearce finds archaic about the force and wants to change. What may stop him from doing so is his investigation of the murder of several people at "The Night Owl" cafe, one of which is Crowe's partner, recently "retired" after a well publicized jail brawl christened "Bloody Christmas" by the papers.

Crowe and Pearce come at this 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 suppose to. Hollywood legend has it that a string of expensive call girls were cut to look like stars during the forties and fifties 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 deserved the Oscar she garnered for this role and Crowe's performance as the tough cop with some soft spots after all is something you'll always remember. But the coolest job done here is by Kevin Spacey. Hanson told him before filming began to think Dean Martin and he'd have it down pat. Yes indeed! Spacey plays 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 he see's. 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 IS the atmosphere of this one of a kind masterpiece. This film has the kind of ending dreams are made of and someone (I won't give it away) 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.......!

a devilishly good film noir
LA Confidential delves into the dark, seedy side of 1940s Hollywood with corrupt cops, prostitution and extreme violence. A strong sense of moral ambiguity lies at the cold heart of this stylish yet gritty flick. A strong male cast, including Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, brilliantly blur the line between good and bad/ hero and villain/ right and wrong. LA Confidential is not only a sharp, suspenseful, action-packed treat of a movie, it also has the subtlety and brilliance to keep you thinking and questioning long after the last reel is run. It has all the glamour and grit of a 1940s Hollywood Classic film noir.