L.A. Confidential 1997

type: Movie

language: English

duration: 132 min

genre: crime

theme: neo-noir

director: Curtis Hanson

Score: 8 / 10

L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American neo-noir crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Curtis Hanson. The screenplay by Hanson and Brian Helgeland is based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same name, the third book in his L.A. Quartet series. The film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers in 1953, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity. The title refers to the 1950s scandal magazine Confidential, portrayed in the film as Hush-Hush.

Plot

In 1953 Los Angeles, LAPD Sergeant Edmund Exley is determined to live up to the reputation of his father, famed detective Preston Exley, who was killed by an unknown assailant whom Exley secretly nicknamed "Rollo Tomasi", his archetype for a criminal escaping justice. He volunteers to testify against corrupt officers involved in the "Bloody Christmas" case in exchange for promotion to detective lieutenant, against the advice of precinct captain Dudley Smith.

Awards

Cast

More details

author	Brian Helgeland Curtis Hanson James Ellroy
award	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film National Board of Review Award for Best Film National Board of Review: Top Ten Films Silver nugget for the best foreign film
contentLocation	Los Angeles
director	Curtis Hanson
editor	Peter Honess
events	Jewish-American organized crime Los Angeles Police Department police corruption
genre	crime drama thriller
keywords	arizona badge of honor beaten to death blackmail bloody christmas celebrity criminal city hall coffee shop corruption criminal empire discover district attorney dragnet film star frame gather heroin homicide homosexual johnny stompanato kill lapd los angeles city hall mickey cohen murder narcotic narcotics detective obsess plainclothes plainclothes law enforcement planted evidence plastic surgery police captain police custody police drama police station precinct captain sex worker solve struggling actor tabloid magazine tax evasion torture veronica lake
musicBy	Jerry Goldsmith
nomination	Academy Award for Best Cinematography Academy Award for Best Director Academy Award for Best Film Editing Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Production Design Academy Award for Best Sound Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
producer	Arnon Milchan Curtis Hanson Michael Nathanson
productionCompany	Regency Enterprises The Wolper Organization
publisher	Warner Bros.
recordedAt	Long Beach
theme	mafia neo-noir police procedural