1997 Ranked
Non-2018 First Time Watches Ranked

Film #44 of my 100 Degrees, 100 Movies Challenge

Common actor from previous film: Kevin Spacey

PREVIOUS FILM: The Usual Suspects
NEXT FILM: 3:10 To Yuma

"Off the record, on the QT and very hush-hush."

L.A. Confidential is a slow-burn detective noir tale that follows three detectives, played by Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey respectively. The cast in general is excellent and also features Kim Basinger, James Cromwell, Ron Rifkin and Danny DeVito.

The acting in this was excellent, and combined with the excellent work by Curtis Hanson to bring this 1950's L.A. to life, sucked me into this film immediately. The setting is really amazing and doesn't get enough credit when talked about amongst great film atmospheres. It was easily believable that it was set in the 1950's and there wasn't any moments where I was taken out of the film.

I think my favourite part of this film is actually the character development of the three leads. I'm a sucker for good characters and the arcs and depth that these three have is incredible. From finding out why Russell Crowe is so protective of women, to the many, many layers to Guy Pearce's character, to the self-loathing of Kevin Spacey's character (I hate that I found myself rooting for him but he is a hell of an actor), the character work is some of the best in recent memory. The few roles I've seen Pearce in lately (The Proposition, Lawless and now this) have completely changed my opinion on him as an actor.

The one flaw, and I feel it's a big one, for me is that the story, while executed really well, is so damn predictable, with the exception of Guy Pearce's character as I never truly knew his motivations. I knew who the bad guys were almost straight away and I had a pretty good idea how the film was going to go.

Regardless, this is still a fantastic film and a must-watch in my opinion!