L.A. Confidential‘s representation of a long-gone era in Los Angeles is exemplary, and the 1950s are enlivened on screen in an accurate and opulent manner.

| Nov 28, 2023

The flawless ensemble..., the masterfully written story, the vibrant yet gritty vision of 1950s LA - most everything clicks in this fittingly cynical and undeniably seductive period crime thriller that still maintains its style and sizzle.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Mar 8, 2023

The best and richest crime-cop drama in decades... This is an instant classic.

| Original Score: A+ | Jan 10, 2023

One of the best cop films, L.A. films, and 1950s-set films. It’s also the best movie most of its cast and crew have ever been associated with. (25th anniversary)

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 30, 2022

Darker than piping hot coffee and more hard-boiled than a picnic egg, here's a colourfully brutal, thriller which might have been hewn from Hollywoods golden heyday.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 8, 2022

A masterfully smart and soulful film that bows low before genre even as it betrays it.

| Oct 20, 2021

Danny DeVito plays vile Sid for more laughs than such a sleazy type deserves, while Kim Basinger portrays a woman disappointed by life but still hopeful for salvation.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 20, 2021

The ensemble cast is flawless, anchored by two intense young Aussies, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 20, 2021

Adapted from a novel said to be unadaptable and set in a genre that has seemed increasingly played out, it brings clarity and life to its art and to life. That's a pretty good definition of a masterpiece, isn't it?

| Original Score: A+ | Oct 20, 2021

One of the toughest, freshest movies of the year.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 20, 2021

All the cops are corrupt in different ways. But as the murk and muck of the story deepens and thickens, three of them rouse themselves out of their moral torpor and rediscover their vocation, if not exactly their honor.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 20, 2021

One of the things the film conveys, in addition to institutionalized corruption, is the energy and excitement of a city that knows it's on the move. L.A. Confidential is juicy dynamite.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 20, 2021

Director Curtis Hanson, who adapted the novel with Brian Helgeland, has created a film that delivers in every way.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 20, 2021

Directed with vibrant panache by Hanson, L.A. Confidential is a terrific thriller, lean, taut and deeply involving, and rich in moral complexity.

| Oct 20, 2021

With the relish of brazen headlines splashed across the top of a Police Gazette-type scandal sheet, L.A. Confidential peers seductively into the dark heart of the city and conjures up a grand piece of hard-boiled entertainment.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 20, 2021

I loved this movie and respected its just-right blend of art and entertainment. Its lack of ironic self-consciousness and its insistence that its heroes be imperfect men of imperfect justice make this an exquisite noir experience.

| Original Score: A | Oct 20, 2021

Dante Spinotti's widescreen camerawork and Jeannine Oppewall`s production design brilliantly recreate the somewhat tawdry world of a glamorous city which is starting to lose its glamour.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 19, 2021

Hollywood has always been fascinated with the seamier side of Los Angeles. The lure of movie-star glamour has always drawn the strivers, schemers, seducers and swindlers. All are in abundance in LA Confidential.

| Oct 19, 2021

What makes it so compelling is the scope and richness of its design. One leaves it with the sense of satisfaction one feels after snapping into place the last piece of a brain-teasing jigsaw puzzle.

| Oct 19, 2021

Most remarkable of all is the way the film's top notch cast is in sync with the noir style without drawing attention to themselves. Australian actors Crowe and Pearce are especially good.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 19, 2021