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"L.A. Confidential"


Reviewed by: Charles J. Amadori
Genre: Drama
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (Letterbox)
Audio: English 5.1 & French 5.1 & Music Only Track
Language: English and French
Subtitle: English, Francais, Espanol
Length: 138 minutes
Rating: R for strong violence, language and sexuality
Release Date: April 21, 1998
Studio: Warner Bros.
Commentary: None
Documentaries: The L.A. of "L.A. Confidential" site map with details of filming locations; L.A. Mob Scene stills; Cops Shine in 60's TV Show stills; Bloody Christmas stills; Just Can't Beat Those 1953 Prices stills; Awards stills
Featurettes: None
Filmography/Biography: Confidential Roll Call; The Lowdown on the Movie Makers
Interviews: Interviews: "Off the Record"... Behind the Scenes; The Photo Pitch; > Soundtrack Promo
Trailers/TV Spots: 3 TV Spots, Theatrical Trailer
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: None
Music Video: None, but there is a promo spot for the Soundtrack
Other: Jump To A Scene, other recommendations (Bonnie and Clyde, Bullit, Dirty Harry)
Cast and Crew: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, David Stratharin, James Cromwell
Screenplay by: Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson adapted from James Ellroy's novel
Produced by: Arnon Milchan, Curtis Hanson, Dan Kolsrud, Brian Helgeland, Michael G. Nathanson, David L. Wolper
Directed By: Curtis Hanson
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
The Review: One of the best films of the ninties. Nominated for nine Academy awards and winner of two, including best supporting actress and best adapted screenplay. This highly stylized film noir is packed with tour de force acting, a witty script adaption and smooth direction. The story follows three cops on their quests to solve a bloody murder. Each cop has their own, effective method. Sgt. Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) spends his extracurricular time as advisor for the cop show Badge of Honor, a Dragnet-like show. He also earns extra money by doing controversial "pot busts" for gutter press writer, Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito). His methods use fast track payoffs and bribes. Officer Bud White (Russell Crowe) a "defender" of battered women, is regarded by other cops as just dumb hired muscle. When his ex-partner is murdered in the bloody murder, he follows his instincts and muscles to break the case. He also finds love with Veronica Lake look-a-like call girl Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger). Sgt. Ed Exley (Guy Pearce)is a politcal by the book cop, who sees everything as right and wrong. He quickly makes enemies of other cops, but later discovers the darker side of the law. The story comes together for the showdown ending with fluidity. The dialogue is intelligent and entertaining. The best peroid film-noir since Chinatown.
Image and Sound This is a dual layer disc. The transfer is superb. The picture is sharp and the plain colors show the time period perfectly. Like Wonder Boys, a lot of natural lighting was used, which seems to transfer good on DVD becuase of the resolution. It looks like the director purposely avoided using bright colors (for the most part), it works well in this film. The 5.1 soundtrack is clear and powerful. The score purrs. The five channels are split properly giving a true cinmatic experience. The gunshots and vintage vehicles resonate through you... top notch. Being a period piece, there is a lot of old staticy music, but the DVD brings it to life as if we were listening to the old record itself. This is an older DVD, but it could esily be released today with the features and specs it has.
The Extras The site map is a nice touch. It tells you exact locations of shots with some interesting history. It includes trivia about paintings, designers and structures. There is a plethora of stills with info on the L.A. mob scene, info on 60's cop shows, info about the real Bloody Christmas incident, an illustration of the price differences between the fifties and now. Three TV Spots (ShoWest, Nite Owl Action, Hollywood) are included. A standard theatrical trailer is also included. There is a short featurette in which Curtis Hanson explains how he got fianancing for the film using 50's photos to create the mood. That gives you a sense of what his original vision was. The Off the Record featurette is interesting. Curtis Hanson explains how he convinced the producers to let him cast two Australian's (Crowe & Pearce) as two of the three leads. This featurette even included samples of Crowe and Pearce's screen tests; which were interesting to see how different the actors looked in appearance than their characters. The Music only track highlights Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar nomiated score. This DVD is packed with info and features. Like I said, this is an early DVD but the extras are plentiful enough even for todays standards.
Commentary None. Curtis Hanson doesn't ever seem to put commentary on his DVD's. I'm not sure if the site map was supposed to be a replacement for a commentary. As informative as it was, I still would like to see a commentary for this movie.
Final Words: This DVD is great. This movie is great. Curtis Hanson has put together one of the best film-noir movies ever. This movie deserved the best picture award over that fluffy waterlogged Titanic. Russell Crowe should have at least been nominated, although I do not think he could have defeated Jack Nicholson that year. It's right up there with Maltese Falcon, Touch of Evil, Chinatown and Usual Suspects. This is a DVD to buy and watch over and over again. Renting is not enough.


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 June 17, 2001