Another good film that lost to other films at the Oscars, and lost to Titanic.
It is a movie that exposes the darkness of the police world, and the bright Hollywood has always liked a bright ending. However, like "Chinatown" 20 years ago, this "L.A. Confidential" has stood the test of time. Not only does it look timeless now, but the film's character settings, clues, stories, etc. are better than many of the current ones. Police films, and in many current film and television dramas, you can also see the shadow of this "L.A. Confidential", which is considered an ancestor.
Although it is also a dark movie, "L.A. Confidential" has a much better ending than "Chinatown", at least the bad guys are punished. But obviously this punishment is not the justice that Americans want. This film also pays tribute to the predecessor "Chinatown". They are two completely different stories with similar settings, and there are factors such as corrupt police, collusion between the police and the boss, and helpless reality. The most important thing is that when Bud first met Susan, her nose was bandaged in exactly the same way as Jack Nicholson was.
Susan is a supporting role that could not have been smaller. But it is an important clue in the development of the case, and it is also one of the expression factors of Bard's sympathy and protection of women.
Bud is one of the three male protagonists, played by Russell Crowe, who is from Australia in his Hollywood debut. It was his excellent performance in this film that gave him the opportunity to star in "Gladiator", the first time he won the Golden Man, and later "Beautiful Mind", "American Gangster", "Les Miserables" and other excellent works.
Another actor, Guy Pierce, also from Australia ("Memento", etc.), plays an ambitious novice cop, an idealist who eventually succumbs to reality. This is also his first work to open the door to Hollywood.
The author of the original novel of this film is an Australian, and two Australian actors have been chosen, and these two can be regarded as overnight fame. Later works can no longer invite three heavyweight male protagonists to appear together, and the astronomical salary.
The third male lead is Kevin Spacey. To be honest, I haven't seen any bad movie he acted. The one with the highest pay in this film died early (the foreign actors lived to the end and became heroes). The death scene is a test of acting skills. He and the actor Susan later reunited in American Beauty.
None of the three actors won an Oscar, nor did the little plum from "Titanic".
It is the beauty of Kim Basinger, who rejected the role of Lynn three times, and finally won her only best supporting actress. The posters are more deceptive, and various versions of the posters focus on Basinger, presumably trying to use beautiful women to lure audiences into the theater to watch a tough guy movie.
The story is in the 1950s, clothing, cars, etc., needless to say, very ancient. The movie Lynn and Bud watched was Roman Holiday in 1953. So kind.
A brain-burning movie that tests your memory. The names of the characters that appear in the front will be clues to the later plots. If you don't pay attention, you will be very confused.
Worth rewatching.
View more about L.A. Confidential reviews
