Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #38 L.A. Confidential
Box Office: $64.6 Million
Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Curtis Hanson), Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Sound
Oscar Wins: Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger), Best Adapted Screenplay
MovieRankings.Net: 95/100
Available To Stream: Netflix
It speaks volumes about how well this movie is crafted that a fantastic video game (L.A. Noire) came out 15 years later that carried the look and feel of the movie. The characters and Los Angeles that is shown in L.A. Confidential is so interesting that it does leave you wanting more. Because it's a period piece and so well directed, it also holds up remarkably well.
The cast doesn't hurt either. They took a shot on having two Australians who weren't huge names in America yet in Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce and both are fantastic here. Kim Basinger is so good in this movie that she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Mix in great character actors like James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and David Straithairn and you have a brilliantly acted movie.
Much of the credit needs to go to Brian Helgeland who wrote the script along with director Curtis Hanson. It's a screenplay filled with so much depth both in character and plot. Helgeland went on to have an odd career after this. He would be nominated for an Oscar for writing Mystic River but also wrote many uneven movies like 42, The Postman and The Taking Of Pelham 123.
Visually, it's a stunning movie that has had huge impact on movies and video games that take place in this time period. You'll even see shots from LA Confidential in Grand Theft Auto V. For a city that is shot as much in movies as L.A. Confidential is, it's pretty incredible that director Curtis Hanson was able to make it seem so fresh. This is the second Hanson movie on the top 100 (#78 The River Wild). He had a very nice run here with River Wild, this, Wonder Boys and 8 Mile. Sadly, Hanson died in 2016 from a rare from of dementia.
In some ways, I find Hanson to be the victim of bad timing. L.A. Confidential had no chance to beat out James Cameron and Titanic for the best picture race. But what if L.A. Confidential came out a year earlier? Does it beat The English Patient? If Wonder Boys comes out a year later in a much weaker year, can it get nominated for Best Picture over Gosford Park? At the end of the day, it doesn't change how good the movies are obviously. I'm just trying to show that he deserves more credit then he gets.
The only thing that doesn't age well in this movie is having Kevin Spacey in it. He's a fantastic actor and he's good in this but it's so distracting. It's not as noticeable in Seven or The Usual Suspects when he's playing a total piece of shit. However, this character is more complicated. He's not a good person at all but he's not a total scumbag. I believe you're supposed to like his portrayal of Hollywood Jack Vincennes. Spacey's presence is so huge in these 90's movies. It's great that this was a time when character actors could have such a huge presence in movies. I just wish they could have picked a different guy.
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A lot of filmmakers try the noir genre but since their glory days in the 40's and 50's, this along with Chinatown are among the very best. Both Chinatown and L.A. Confidential take Los Angeles at its most idyllic right after WWII only to peel everything back to show the dark underbelly. We're due for another great one.
38. L.A. Confidential
39. Speed
40. Gattaca
41. Misery
42. Tombstone
43. Ransom
44. Wayne's World
45. The Insider
46. Back To The Future Part III
47. A Bronx Tale
48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49. Eyes Wide Shut
50. The Sandlot
51. Happy Gilmore
52. Contact
53. The Green Mile
54. Man On The Moon
55. Boyz N The Hood
56. Grosse Pointe Blank
57. Independence Day
58. The Rainmaker
59. Go
60. The Firm
61. Magnolia
62. The Talented Mr. Ripley
63. Tommy Boy
64. The Usual Suspects
65. In The Line Of Fire
66. My Cousin Vinny
67. Awakenings
68. JFK
69. Toy Story
70. Home Alone
71. Jerry Maguire
72. Titanic
73. Billy Madison
74. Apollo 13
75. Braveheart
76. Edward Scissorhands
77. Cape Fear
78. The River Wild
79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
80. 12 Monkeys
81. Stir Of Echoes
82. Mission: Impossible
83. Total Recall
84. Quiz Show
85. For Love Of The Game
86. Being John Malkovich
87. Men In Black
88. Scream
89. Alive
90. Three Kings
91. Glengarry Glen Ross
92. Die Hard With A Vengeance
93. The Blair Witch Project
94. Twister
95. Dirty Work
96. Election
97. Tremors
98. Any Given Sunday
99. The Wedding Singer
100. Clerks