L.A. Confidential

A top-notch crime movie with an excellent cast. I must admit that I sometimes got a little lost in the sea of names and twists, but in the end everything turned out well when I found my feet again and continued watching with eyes out on stalks, watching them get to the bottom of this clever case. A flawless work. (02/14/2010)

Yeah, I got it after a second screening. A brilliant crime drama with a sophisticated script and the wonderful atmosphere of 1950s L.A., the film's main strength. The same can be said of the perfect cast lead by Crowe’s macho protector of women, he’s flawless. Guy Pearce outdoes himself here, this role opened him the door to the acting elite for a while, before it embarrassingly slammed in his face again a few years later. I am not giving this 5* just because the fairly similar Polanski's Chinatown is a notch better. (04/13/2003)

Gangster film as it should be - bloody, sometimes even brutal, with tough heroes, inconspicuous traitors, a beautiful femme fatale, and a brilliant shootout at the end. Exactly the type of movie where you give it the highest rating without hesitation at the end and the only thing you can say about it is that it is simply divine... (08/27/2006)

Lol, who wouldn't want to be a tough guy like Bud White? To crush criminals with a fist of stone and gently protect women with the same hand? Russell Crowe perfectly plays the type of character that earned him his fame - the type of unbreakable tough guy with character. Guy Pearce as Lieutenant Exley is his excellent counterpoint - slimy, devious... L.A. Confidential utilizes their mutual energy, which they initially repel and then unite in a deadly blow. The seemingly disparate story, which flows in all directions, harmonizes perfectly in the finale and culminates in a magnificent shootout gambit. In the end, from the genre paintings of Sinful People of L.A., it becomes detective story with a good point and with a nice twist. Curtis Hanson has proven to be a pretty cool guy - his directing swings, the images alternate with brisk action and convincing retro... it's just one big dose of "dirty" police goodness. Rough, straightforward and as graceful as Kim Basinger’s ass. Jesus fuckin´ Christ! (11/04/2007)

Just as the sunny and idyllic suburban Los Angeles makes a beautiful mask for domestic violence, Mexican women strapped to the bed, dead bodies in the basement, and a pile of gunmen in the public toilets, a cop's musty, rotten, and lost soul is framed by the aura of good intentions that got him to join the force in the first place. Touching; today's movies work the exact opposite way. (06/19/2010)