L.A. Confidential Analyzed and Explained
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Men of Honour: L.A. Confidential analyzed and explained.
I take a look at Curtis Hanson's masterpiece, L.A. Confidential, to discuss the main theme of 'honor' that runs throughout the film. L.A. Confidential follows three police officers, Ed Exley (played by Guy Pearce), Bud White (played by Russell Crowe) and Jack Vincennes (played by Kevin Spacey), as they become emboiled in the Nite Owl murder case. This case will force each of these men to confront their own codes of honour.
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The real crime is Spacey, Pearce and Crowe did not share Academy Awards. LA Confidential was the Best Picture of the Year. Compelling and engrossing. A deep, complex study of human behavior in multiple precarious situations.
Without a doubt it was!
I believe Crowe and Spacey did get nominations. Pearce should have but he was an unknown in Hollywood at the time. He's one of my all time favorite actors. Also David Strathairn in a small but memorable role.
Exactly! This film was the best picture of the year, not Titanic! I always thought that LA Confidential was robbed that year.
so very true. Maybe because they all three were so great, there was no chance to choose from them. However, Spacey's Rollo Tomasi scenes (when he reacts to the Rollo Tomasi story and then when he dies) is masterfully played. After seeing him in this is when I started to follow his career.
@@virocska Same this is the movie that introduced me to all three when it first came out back in 97 , Russell Crowe was still a nobody back then & unknown , only Spacey & Kim Basinger & Danny DeVito were known back in 97
An unsung hero of L.A. Confidential, and so many other movies, is Jerry Goldsmith, music composer extraordinaire. His score is a vital piece of the film, pushing the story along, in it's own unobtrusive way.
Agreed.
LA Confidential SHOULD have received the Oscar for best picture instead of that cheesy, bloated schlockbuster "Titanic."
I’m afraid that is just blasphemy. This movie is good but “Titanic” is better.
I agree.
@@waltmccarthy9837
Respectfully disagree.
@@jasonspencer4725 I understand, sir. To each his own.
Titanic was crap. Mostly fiction, distorted the fact that lightoller was a hero not a villain. Ever read?
I think Jack Vincennes has a change of heart when he is confronted with the fact that he will be ruining someone's career. He goes to the hotel to stop the kid from getting set up and only then discovers the death. This definitely further strengthens his move to change.
Absolutely.
I think another subsidiary message of both the book and the film is that people can change, something Hollywood rarely shows. All three men undergo severe testing forcing them to re-evaluate their approaches to life.
As good as it gets, titanic, la confidential, full monty, good will hunting, all films that stood the test of time, all highly watchable in 2020 what a year 1997 was
You forgot Donnie brasco
You forgot Face Off (Best film of 1997)
@@owens164 you forgot my birthday. I turned 6 that year
@@festival3051 good point, happy birthday
Back when movies weren't all about virtue signalling and superpowers? Yeah, good times.
This film is superb in many ways! It had the misfortune to be up against "Titanic " at the Oscars. I think it's Spacey's best work. He has two memorable lines: " She IS Lana Turner, " and " I don't remember. " Interesting that two imaginary hoodlums are both voiced by Spacey; Rollo Tomasi and Keyser Söze from The Usual Suspects. Excellent all around!
Titanic. Why talk about garbage like that very bad film? Very bad stuff.
@@john2914 why are you so triggered just by someone mentioning titanic
I agree, titanic cannot be mentioned on the same day with this masterpiece.
You forget the linchpin line... "Rollo....Tomasi. Heh....."
An intelligent movie for people who pay attention. The Academy may occasionally nominate movies like this, but they rarely win the day. Still, at least Helgeland won for best adapted screenplay; richly deserved.
the great thing about the movie and the stroke of a genial director is the patience with the audience, the movie was not shortened to a minimum bare to fit a big screen schedule. the characters are given time to think and react, now characters already know what they think and speak without a moment of prior cogitation.
One of the best movies ever made.
Agreed!
It's one of those that whenever it's on, I must watch all of it Lucky Man.
I came here to type this exact word-for-word comment.
It's replaced The Godfather as my numero uno
The best ever made? Please stop talking you idiot. It was a good movie.
Titanic was all special effects. LA Confidential was a great screenplay, plot, and superb acting. We all knew Titanic was going to sink and people would die. in LA Confidential it took watching it a few times to really understand what was happening before your eyes. Much like Chinatown, you did not know in advance the outcome. Both. were outstanding films. LA CONFIDENTIAL should have won the Oscar that year over a boring and predictable Titanic.
I like Titanic but there's no doubt in my mind which film should have won best picture. L.A. Confidential for sure!
Excellent video man, very well done! I absolutely adore L.A. Confidential. It’s one of those rare films that not only adapts the narrative of the book almost perfectly, but captures the essence of it as well. Something else that I loved about the movie (and the book) is the way it makes the city of Los Angeles itself a character, that the three protagonists interact with through characters that personify the culture and societies of the city (Hollywood glitz, sleazy sex industry, etc.).
Absolutely! It's a film with many layers and it's quite densely packed, so it requires multiple viewings I think, before you can truly appreciate it.
The movie actually is an improvement of the book. I'm not aware of any other such situation
@@edwardhalpin7503 i disagree. i loved the movie, but the book was a masterpiece. there were many intriguing plots and threads as well as sociopolitical subtexts in the book that were left out of the movie... i agree with the filmmakers choice to streamline to make the movie more concise, but in the context of the book they worked perfectly.
A magnificent score by Jerry Goldsmith too.
Absolutely!
I couldn't agree more.
This is so true, it accentuates so many scenes perfectly
Of course, the viewers cared about the three main characters. But, the story showed how vulnerable the brown and black population was at the hands of the lapd.
This movie should've won all the awards!
Great review. I consider this to be among contemporary classics. The others being, but not limited to Unforgiven, and Shawshank Redemption.
Absolutely! Couldn't agree more. All 3 of those would make my top 50 all time.
@@BryanLomax please present your list of top 50. i would like to watch them.
This is a great film because it has Stuff, my word for something that is hard to define. Stuff is more than just the excellent plot, but exists because of that excellence. It's the feeling that you are living completely inside the events of the film as they unfold and are gut level believing that they are real and are actually your own personal experience because of the gut level punch of their authenticity. Not many films do this and I'm talking about something way beyond the usual experience of being swept up in the plot. So the key to Stuff is that the film makers and actors have succeeded in conveying an unusual degree of authenticity, compared to that of the usual police procedural, or any other type of film. And Stuff is deeply satisfying.
very well put and couldnt agree more
Thank you for sharing this. Very concise and thorough analysis of a film that holds up and appeals on so many levels.
Thanks Michael!
Good and sound analysis overall. There is an interesting point about character arcs and a certain counterpoint in the theme of honor. It is how Exley starts off with a sense of perfect scruples but ends up learning to get dirty. He answers no to Dudley on matters on which he later, as his investigation progresses, requires him to engage in pragmatic actions tantamount to a "yes". His willingness to engage in brutal interrogation (like beating a confession out of someone) with White against the D.A. and to shoot a hardened criminal in the back to prevent him getting off in court (Dudley). He made these exceptions not on the advice of Dudley, but because they helped him get Justice served. He did take Dudley's advice to hold up his badge, however.
I'm finding this an interesting series - especially because it come at the movies concerned from a rather different angle from most common or garden reviews. I agree that Ed is basically the moral centre of the film, despite the occasional temptations and mixed motives but as a simple viewer I have always found myself more invested in Bud's story and rooting for him more than Ed.
Me too in many ways. I think it's because Bud is the underdog. You know deep down he has a good heart but he's just too blinded by rage. Ed clearly has the intellect and because most people just see Bud as muscle for hire it makes you root for him to show us something more. We see he's desperate to show that he's capable. So we kinda hope that he is. I love it when the two of them join forces. Once they lay down their egos they very quickly become like a well oiled machine, working together in tandem. It's nice to see.
I also think it's the lowest point of the movie when Bud hits Lynn. His entire life has been built on not becoming his dad but stopping that happening to other women and then he loses control for that instant. I love the way everybody left comes to appreciate where the others are coming from - it's perhaps a bit sentimental but the film doesn't duck the fact there are consequences for what has happened.
Funny, I've never really thought of it as sentimental, but I suppose you are right. Though the film is so expertly handled you don't really notice, so it's sentimentality done in the right way.
I have no problems with sentiment. In many ways I am a sentimental man.
Yeah me too! But I don't like it when it feels forced. And you have to earn it. It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite Christmas film. It earns its sentiment!
The books are amazing, the dudley smith trio ,the big nowhere, L.A confidential & white jazz an absolute powerhouse of writing cannot recommend these books enough.
Incredible dissection of an incredible move. Well done!
Thank you Karla, much appreciated!
Very well put together break down of the film's themes.
i love this review (of probably one of my top five best movies) and i love the way you analyse each character apart. keep the good work
Thank you!
Just watched this gem for the first time last night. How did I overlook it for so long? I’ve been thinking about it all day.
Great review and very good analysis of the 3 main characters.
I just watched this last night. I enjoyed your video very much!
Thank you.
This will always be my favourite crime movie.
first movie i ever bought on VHS in high school and STILL love it!
i assumed i had it on dvd, but come to think of it, it was vhs. lol
@@nateo6518 nice!!
L A Confidential definitely should have won best picture in 1997. Then again I'm very biased, it is my all time favorite movie
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I must have watched it 5 times in the theater when it came out. Good times.
I dont give many films a perfect rating often, but this is one of them. Great video 👏 ❤
Great review. I love this movie
Thanks! Brian Hope all is well love your other channel too(The Movie Evangelist) God Bless You👍🙏
For some reason I'm seeing this comment now and, while it appears I gave it a like, I never actually responded beyond that. Shocking behaviour! Sorry about that. Don't know what happened there. Anyway, thank you sir for your generous superchat, it is greatly appreciated, even if my appreciation comes 1 year after the fact. God bless!
Great job opening with a clear thesis: That these 3 are the main focus and they all represent different facets of "honor". I just wish you took it further and explored the analysis. very short/ half done feel.
Great video man
I just stumbled on your channel, love the work.
Thank you
Great movie! Thanks for posting.
Hands down one of the most unrated crime movies n movies in general! also amazing review!
Good explanation. The dilemmas shown in both the novel and the movie are faced by law enforcement officers in real life. Ellroy is a real eccentric, but a national treasure, in my opinion the finest police novelist in history.
The character of Exley stayed with me long after I left the theater. I imagined his future, marrying a sweet homemaker, having children and family photos appearing in the local press. Of course, he rose high in the force.
Honor disregards ego
One of my favorite movies of all time! The best movie of 1997, sorry Titanic.
Excellent analysis. 😎👍👍
Hush hush! Great video
Great video!
Thank you!
Excellent review.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it!
Bryan Lomax Movie Talk thank You
This was one of those years that style won over substance at the Oscars.
Incredible cast
I agree.Pearce is excellent as Exley.Crowe very good as Bud White.
Cromwell is Dudley Smith to a tee.Spacey is great because he is Spacey.
Great video. I love LA Confidential
It's one of my all time favourite movies. I've been wanting to do something on it for ages. I started working on this before all the stuff about Kevin Spacey came out. Then I was like, "Crap! Don't know if I can put this out now." But I decided, sod it, it's about the film not him!
Bryan Lomax Movie Talk fair enough. I'm very glad you did it in the end. I feel not enough people talk about this movie anymore
Watched this yesterday for the first time and loved the basically opposite going character arcs of Wight and Exley.
I really liked it even it is a tad long but thats minor criticism for such a brilliant movie.
Spacey should have at least been nominated for a Best Supporting for his bit in this film. Everyone was great though.
The subject of LA Confidential made me theavily think about the story of Mike Erhmantraut and his son in Better Call Saul
I still need to watch both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Its one of the best movies of the last 30 years and is almost perfect in its conception
This is one of the best crime dramas, I've ever seen! A lot happens in this movie. You definitely gotta pay attention. It also put Russell Crowe on the map. He had my attention.
For sure!
Absolutely!
Great review man. This movie is awesome. I couldn't make out what this story was about, but the characters were so interesting to still stay tuned. You know I just recently made a review of this movie. I don't know if you would be interested to check it out and see what you think? See ya.
Many great films are built around a character arc; L.A. Confidential had three. A work of genius. Too bad Curtis Hanson didn't make more.
Well, he still made quite a few pretty decent movies, but this still remains his finest work, R.I.P.
Yep. However , none of it quite equals it, just as nothing Frankenhiemer ever made quite equals *Manchurian Candidate*
You can find similar instances in many other fields of human endeavor. For example, Sammi Smith and Bobbie Gentry recorded a lot of good songs, it is just that, in each they recorded one song that reaches the supreme heights. Or look at sports. Bobby Thompson will always be remembered for a single home run, while Don Larson will alwas be remembered for a single game he pitched. It is not just baseball. While only UCLA fans, (And still grieving Michigan State fans, like me) will know of what I speak, I have only five words. Bob Stiles, 1966 Rose Bowl. Look it up. Probably , the greatest defensive performance by one football player, ever.
i'll stir fry you in my WOK ! WORK of genius ! yes I'm a stickler for details but agreed the character arcs are brilliant ENJOY ST PATRICKS DAY!!
I stand corrected. Thank you
James Ellroy's book is also a masterpiece. Like many book adaptions, the movie contains around 30% of the book. Somehow Ellroy stays in command of the overarching plot through out. If you haven't read it you are missing out.
It's hard to watch the film again after reading the book. They did a great job adapting the book, but they had to take an axe and chop it way down.
I have that one.
Read the whole LA quartet. He's two books into a new one. "Perfidia" and "This Storm".
American Tabloid is better
What is great about this movie , You had a mike Hammer cop, Phillip Marlowe Cop and a Sam Spade Cop
I have to say as a movie fanatic/Hollywood researcher..This movie is a Masterpiece 👊🙏
Yes it is!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie
Not sure Exley was that honorable, he was willing to shit on his comrades to get ahead. Bud white was much more honorable. Exleys had the kind of honor that an idealist without life experience has. He learns that dirty tactics have to be used when he shoots dudley in the back near the end if the film. Exley has honor to a certain degree but bud white is the real honorable man in the story and what makes Exley and white a great team in the end is Exley has the smarts and political brain to bring down dudley and also ensure the clean up of the police force.
Many of the police ed sold out were dirty or incompetent anyway.
You didnt get the movie. It expertly shows that both codes are true. The law has to apply to everyone, BUT in order for everyone to be brought to justice , sometimes you have to break the rules.
L.A. Confidential
Question, does anyone know what the clips at the end credits are?? is it like a specific reference?
Best Cop/Detective/Noir film ever made hands down!!!!!
LA Confidential is to cop movies as Goodfellas is to Mob movies or SPR is to war movies , all are masterpieces that set the bar for everything else in their own genre of films
Couldn't agree more! One of the greatest films ever made. Period!
What about the fact that in the end, Ed took a promotion over exposing the corruption and wrong-doings of the police department? To me it was more the story of idealist choosing careerism guised in reforming a corrupt institution. His promotion was still a corrupt wheeling and dealing
In the end he chose silence over integrity
Great film.
The unresolved question for me is, why did Exley screw Lynn Bracken? I'm not being flippant. Why did he do it? Clearly it needed to happen to advance the plot - Sid Hutchens needed to take the pictures so he and Dudley Smith could get them in front of Bud White ("I wouldn't trade places with Ed Exley for all the whiskey in Ireland."), but why did Exley actually do it? It seems like a deux ex machina to advance the plot more than an act truly motivated by his character. Is the implication that Bracken seduced him? If so, then Kim Basinger just didn't pull it off. The scene where he interrogates her and suddenly lusts after her is the one moment in the film that I just can't get past.
For me it's about him trying to prove he's as much of a man as Bud. He can't understand what she sees in him. He's jealous of that.
Great movie, just watched it yesterday for the first time, but I found that they were mentioning too many names, this person and that person. Hard to keep track of who these characters were, and made the plot kind of confusing.
Yeah, it definitely benefits from repeat viewings.
Stellar movie
ive never quite fully understood the killing of the fleur de lis young guy at the motel.
He overheard the DA being blackmailed....
Cromwell has been intimidating in many movie roles...only as Stretch Cunningham in the 1970s TV series All in the Family and 1995's Babe was he a lovable goof...
And Star Trek: First Contact.
IMHO Cromwell steals every scene he's in.
His dialogue is to me the snappiest in the picture besides Spacey.
Spacey was great as usual.
Say what you will about him but there is no denying his talent.
It's too bad we'll probably never see him again, in a movie.
You want to see goof, Murder By Death and Revenge of the Nerds.
my first encounter with him was in American Horror Story - he is literally terrific there
This movie is great study in human nature. M
This movie is definitely based on a true story.
I've read only one James Ellroy novel, Blood On The Moon and sadly I was not impressed. But I like Dark Blue, which was co-written by Ellroy. And I liked this movie.
Three cops all with their ideas on justice and police work blinded by selfish ambitions.
American Tabloid
Vincennes - justice blinded by ambition
White - ambition blinded by justice
Exley - thinks he can have both. HE CAN'T
SPOILER ALERT
About Night Owl massacre, don't you think killing 5 innocent people (three women) + mal lunceford was an exaggerated thing to protect the pornography racket? I mean, i don t think its realistic for two cops like bruening and Carlyle cold blood killing 6 people only to create a false flag for the 3 black guys and protect a pornography racket (i think the porn potos was not a big money business, even for the '50s)
Poor little cole Phelps :(
Good movie.🎉❤
Exley says a kid got murdered, who is the kid, and why did he died?
The gay dude
@@nkoonkukoo ok
''Honour must be about justice''. Still who slashed that poor gay actor's throat? Was it Dudley who killed Ed Exley's father?
It was yes.
@@BryanLomax Brilliant movie with outstanding performances.
But how did Kevin Spacey know about Rolo Tumaci when Exley made that name up.
Because Exley told him about Tomaci in the police station. The only reason you know he was made up is because you saw that very scene in which he tells Spacey's character about it. That's why Spacey throws the name Tomaci out with his dying breath. He knows that if Cromwell goes sniffing around for information on some dude named Tomaci it's gonna set alarm bells ringing for Exley, because there's no way that Spacey would have told Cromwell to seriously start looking for a suspect named Tomaci, given that he knows the name is made up. It's the last and only thing he can do to see that Cromwell gets caught out.
Mike McDermott Kevin Spacey asks Ed Exley WHY he became a police officer and Ed tells him about the name he made up for the man who anonymously murders his father. That name was the only way he could leave a message. No one else knew.
I feel some might consider this film not very politically correct these days at least not the character of Bud.
I feel like it doesn't need to be politically correct, seeing as how it's an authentic period film
Why would anyone consider it "not very politically correct"? Genuine question.
All the more reason he’s a good character. Go watch the CW if you want political correctness lmao.
What's the function of the Mexican girl?
Neo-noir masterpiece. This movie towers over the junk coming out of the big studios these days.
yo thats torretto's
??? I am confused. This is an analysis of the story, not the movie. You could have written exactly this about the book, many years before the movie was even conceived.
Never read the book so, no, I couldn't have.
@@BryanLomax Yes, you could have. What a bizarre error of logic. If I say you could visit Istanbul by train, you cannot say "I haven't been on a train in Turkey, therefore you can't" Your experience, or lack of it, has no bearing on whether it is possible or not. The point is you have written almost nothing about the movie ..in a video about a movie!
I think your train analogy kinda falls on it's ass. If I have never read a particular book then how the hell on God's green earth could I tell you everything about it's storyline. I can tell you all about the story of the movie, which is precisely what I did in the video, because I've seen the movie. If someone who has read the book, such as yourself, comes along and tells me that my analysis sounds like it was done for the book, then great, I'll accept that, but that still doesn't mean I have the first clue that what they say is true or not because I've still not read the book. My video explains the themes of the movie by looking at how the characters operate throughout it. If that also applies to the book... great... so what!
@@BryanLomax Whoosh! Cinema is an audio-visual medium??? Maybe
@@renatab8293 cinema is about character and story??? Absolutely!
there are speech therapists who can help you with your r's
that was a boneheaded american joke, btw. just messin'
The Xmas brawl wasn't that bad imo, the police officers were angry and pissed off at their comrades being badly beaten by the guys they had in custody. They were obviously in the wrong but the code amongst men back then was you back up your fellow man in a fight. Exley was very dishonorable in ratting out his comrades imo. Fights happen, especially back in those days.
I feel some people these days might consider this film not very politically correct at least not the character of Bud.
A Sob story doesn’t give you a right to be a loose cannon. Bud deserved to be stripped and inprjsoned for what he did during the Christmas incident. Latino lives matter.
He wanted to stop the fight but that asshole started it by insulting his mother and you can’t really expect a guy not to be really mad when someone insults his mother if you want to blame someone for hitting the Mexicans (yes they were Mexicans) blame bud’s partner stensland he started the beating bud was only there to stop it
And if you want my advice keep that whatever lives matter shtick outta here this is not the right platform for it
Well Bud actually is the one to save the Mexican girl later in the film so the argument of him as a racist doesn't hold up.
Not being politically correct is a good thing. Films and the world as a whole have been infected by this bs where the lives of scumbags matter, and holding them to task for their scumbaggery somehow makes you a scumbag. That bs idealism ignores human nature and that some people are beyond redemption.
And also #AllLivesMatter
Only fools
good movie, but I think the Bud White character was kind of corny and cringe
Disagree but to each their own I guess.
How so? Genuinely curious.
The only problem with this movie is guy ritchie, maybe the worst actor i know
Guy Pearce?
Strong disagree on that one.
How fk did this film not win the Oscar for best picture one of the best pictures ever made😊