Rating: 
Summary: Good try but still just an updated B-rated 1950s movie
Review: An updated version of a bad B-movie of the 50s, good sets and makeup, hairdos and acting. It was the story that didn't quite come together and the movie was much much too long. Lots of blood, violence and over-done police brutality and corruption. But then, again, the movie was supposed to be a spoof, an artistic 1990s version of popular style with dark overtones.The publicity for this film compares it Pulp Fiction. If it was, it was a very lame version. Pulp Fiction moved fast; LA Confidential was slow. Pulp Fiction made me laugh out loud; LA Confidential made me give a wry giggle at some parts. Pulp Fiction had outrageous characters; LA Confidential had exaggerated characters, but nothing outrageous. I expected (hoped) this film would be better, but it did have some entertainment value.
Rating: 
Summary: L.A. Confidential
Review: This is my favorite movie. Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe play two officers who are used to L.A.'s corrupt police force and even take advantage of the system. It is both the noble, moralistic attitude of a rookie (Guy Pearce) and the death of a fellow cop that make them remember why they joined the force in the first place. A great noir film filled with dry wit and superb acting by Crowe, Spacey and Pearce. Unfortunately, it was never properly publicized or awarded on account of the showboat arrival of the overhyped epic "Titanic." Please give this film its due acknowledgment!
Rating:
Summary: "Here's the juice!"
Review: To this day it makes me sick to my stomach to think that this perfectly rendered film-noir lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Titanic." That runs a close second to the 1994 debacle when "Pulp Fiction" lost the award to "Forrest Gump." People make mistakes, and I'm trying to forgive them. Anyway, this gem of a film was nominated for 9 Oscars, and the Academy members saw fit to give it 2, one for Best Supporting Actress(Basinger) and the other for Best Adapted Screenplay. The script is so razor-sharp that it is no wonder director Curtis Hanson collected what I think is one of the greatest ensembles in film history for the cast of the film. Every actor here is excellent. If I were a teacher of film studies, I would show this film long before "Citizen Kane." This is classic film-noir with a bevy of interesting characters, an intricate plot with twists galore, outstanding direction and cinematography, and brilliant acting everywhere. I simply cannot recommend this film highly enough. This is a genuine masterpiece. "You heard it here first, dear readers. Off the record, on the Q.T., and very...Hush-Hush."
Rating: 
Summary: New Classic
Review: I don't know how rough or how lawless the LAPD was in the 1950s, but this a great film. The 3 main characters transform through the movie... White develops judgement to go with his muscle, Exley goes from squeaky clean, don't get your hands dirty to "Shotgun Ed", and Hollywood Jack Vincennes eventually discovers a sense of drive to solve an outstanding case. In the end, Exley gets a promotion, White gets "an ex-hooker and a trip to Arizona". For Bud White, I'm sure thats good enough.
Rating:
Summary: Top Story of Los Angeles and the 1950s
Review: I was raised in Los Angeles during the 1950s and this is one of the very few movies that capture the look, feel, and character of the city at that time. The acting is stunning and the DVD transfer is razor sharp. Jerry Goldsmith's superb score terrific and the locations, particularly the "Formosa Cafe" and the Bunker Hill area flop houses are particularly authentic. What I have to say about this great film has been said by the many reviews here already. I wanted to add that this gem is brilliantly adapted from the great novel it came from with awesome authenticity. Intricate, brilliant, action-packed and mysterious all at the same time. An easy five stars!!
Rating:
Summary: I do not understand why I waited so long
Review: I wanted to watch this movie right from the moment of its release more than six years ago, but for one reason or other I never got around to do it...until now. Luckily I did not continue procrastinating, because this is probably one of the best movies in the film noir category. The story, based on the novel by James Ellroy, starts with Danny De Vito's narration of the latest events in the city of angels, which include the arrest of Mickey C, head of the organized crime. I have always enjoyed listening to De Vito narrate a story, and as happened in "The War of the Roses", I was enthralled from the beginning. De Vito plays a journalist working for a tabloid called Hush-hush, who has several contacts inside the police department that give him exclusives in exchange for publicity. One of these is Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey), a classic "ladies man", interested in fame and in the Hollywood world much more than he is interested in police business. Vincennes works in the same precinct with Sergeant, soon to be Detective Lieutenant, Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) and with Officer Bud White (Russell Crowe). Exley is the typical "go by the book" guy, son of a famous officer murdered years ago in a crime that was never solved. White is a cop whose main interest is helping ladies in distress, playing a typical knight in a shinning armor. After a situation at the police station ends up in disaster, the relationship among the three policemen is turned into a confrontational one when White's partner is forced to quit his job. Shortly after those events a multiple murder in the Night Owl will have the three policemen desperately trying to solve the same crime and facing a well-oiled criminal organization. At this point the plot and relationship between the characters acquire an amazing depth and keeps the audience guessing right until the end. The performances of Spacey, Pearce and Russell are laudable, and the appearance of Kim Basinger, as a high-class prostitute, adds the missing element to complete an extraordinary cast. The movie has everything one in this genre should have, suspense, action, mystery, thrills, betrayal, love and even humor! I will probably watch this movie again soon because I know I will enjoy it a second time. If you have not seen it yet, I recommend you do it as soon as possible.
Rating:
Summary: Hugely Enjoyable Latter-day Film Noir
Review: Guy Pearce is Edmund Exley, a squeaky clean young LA policeman who won't play along with the shady practices endemic in his Department. His colleague Bud White (Russell Crowe) has a likeable hatred and intolerance of violence against women but is alarmingly relaxed about violence against pretty well anybody else. There is no love lost between these two, following an incident where some suspects are beaten up in custody and Exley's testimony loses White's partner his job. Exley and White are extremely different but both were driven to join the police by youthful exposure to the consequences of violent crime and in their different ways they are still driven by a hunger for justice. That is not true of Jack Vincennes who can't remember why he joined but has become a minor celebrity as a consultant for a TV cop show and is enjoying the lifestyle. Then Whites ex-partner is found dead in a mass shooting. Evidence soon points to three young black guys who are soon pressured into confessing to a nasty crime, only not this one. Next thing, they have escaped and get themselves shot resisting arrest. Case closed, apparently. But Exley, White and, after a little encouragement from Exley, Vincennes too are nagged by doubts and go on digging. The magnificently tangled plot that now unfolds involves three other central characters, Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell), a veteran Irish cop who thinks Exley's scruples misconceived and takes full advantage of White's greater willingness to cross the line; Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger), a prostitute working for an expensive outfit that specializes in supplying women who are movie star look-alikes. (she is paid to impersonate Veronica Lake.) And Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito perfectly cast) who runs a sleazy Hollywood gossip magazine and has the dirt on everyone... This is an extremely well-made movie that lovingly reconstructs 1950s Los Angeles and makes it the setting for a gloriously gripping, complex and intelligent, character-driven mystery story full of crime, intrigue, corruption and sex. Great acting, beautifully directed. It is an unmitigated pleasure to watch. The Academy members who somehow convinced themselves that this film was inferior to Cameron's clunking "Titanic" should hang their heads in shame.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie Ever
Review: This is one of my favorite movies it has great acting and a great story to go with it. I have read the James Ellroy book however this is the one time in which I prefer the movie over the book because the book was very hard to understand and was very confusing and this movie did a good job of keeping a lot of the elements but still making it a movie that I could follow. The story is that there is this murder and detectives need to solve it but the story is more complicated then any of them think because one of their own was murdered as well as seven other people. Five detectives think that they have it all figured out but they are thinking to fast because they all have a feeling that there is more to this case that they don't know. I would recommend this to people who can handle some graphic violence as well as language and a pinch of romance to top it off. I hope that this review has helped you in making a decision about this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Cinema noir
Review: I keep getting this confused, when people are talking about it, with Chinatown - and no wonder. The similarities are striking, but the biggest is that both movies are terrific.
LA Confidential is a gritty tale of scandal, betrayal, corruption, and that essential ingredient: sex.
Incredibly well-acted roles by a host of actors: Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe, Buy Pearce, the inimitable Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito - and that only scratches the surface.
Plenty of reviews go on and on about this movie - and for good reason. However, I'd like to avoid being repetitions and will just add my vote to the others:
GO RENT IT. Now.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies of the 90s
Review: Truley one of the best film noirs ever made. This breathtaking film takes place in the curruption of 1940s Hollywood with an unforgettable cast including Danny DeVito, Russel Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, and James Cromwell and a marvelous direction by Cutis Hanson. This movie should not be missed by anyone especially by movie buffs it is a truley remarkable film.
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