Taut, atmospheric, acted with confident ease -- this is one of the greatest American movies of the 1990s.
Comment
04/09/08
L.A. Confidential (1997)
99
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:80
Fresh:79
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8.6/10
Consensus: Taut pacing, brilliantly dense writing and Oscar-worthy acting combine to produce a smart, popcorn-friendly thrill ride.
Runtime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Curtis Hanson captures the duality of 1950s Los Angeles in this striking film noir adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. The City of Angels might be sunny, inviting, and glamorous to the... [More]
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger
Director: Curtis Hanson
Reviews for L.A. Confidential
Top CriticAs the emotional nexus, a Veronica Lake lookalike trapped in a web of male desires, Basinger is arguably the pick of a perfect cast. Subtle, shocking, compelling and immensely assured.
06/24/06
Top CriticActed to perfection with more twists than you can shake a stick at.
04/21/03
Top CriticDirector Curtis Hanson's elegant film is faithful to Ellroy's multi-layered and labyrinthine book, requiring some concentration to keep up with the subtle plot twists and coded dialogue.
04/17/01
Top CriticWriter-director Curtis Hanson's adaptation of the James Ellroy novel wasn't merely one of the two or three greatest movies of the 1990s; it stands as a masterpiece for the ages.
11/26/08
Everything Angelinos love and hate about their city is here, as well as anything a movie fan could possibly wish for.
10/14/08
A modern cinematic classic...the alchemical reaction of a director and a charmed collaboration of actors, writers, and design artists...[Blu-ray]
10/04/08
...one of the most absorbing, compelling, most thoroughly enjoyable crime thrillers to have come along in the past decade.
09/29/08
A neo-noir masterpiece in the league of "Double Indemnity"...
09/26/08
You have to pay close attention to follow the double-crossing intricacies of the plot, but the reward for your work is dark and dirty fun.
04/09/08
Stop reading. Put this review on hold until after you've seen L.A. Confidential.
04/09/08
Spacey's Vincennes is the standout in a just about flawless ensemble, and director Curtis Hanson keeps the hugely complicated story zooming along the boulevard of broken dreams without losing sight of the details that make the trip worthwhile.
04/09/08
An irresistible treat with enough narrative twists and memorable characters for a half-dozen films.
04/09/08
Top CriticThis movie restores genre elements to a level of potency that's disturbing, satisfying, and rare as hell.
04/09/08
Dizzying and powerful.
09/24/07
A parlor game has already begun as to whether the supreme acting revelation in L.A. Confidential is provided by Mr. Crowe, Mr. Spacey or Mr. Pearce.
04/27/07
Representing the best of Classic Hollywood Cinema, this noir policier is marked by densely-plotted narrative, psychological depth, moral ambiguity, emotional complxity, and great acting, mostly by non-Americans, such as Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.
08/26/06
You could call it a huge epic, but it's also a scrappy movie, full of energy as well as style.
05/26/06
I dug it big-time, baby!
05/06/06
In doing away with manners, Hanson's hardboiled detective stories craft a more hard-hitting picture of the time than any filmmaker who worked in the 1950s could have dreamed
08/19/05
Latest News for L.A. Confidential
April 09, 2008:
Total Recall: The 10 Most Corrupt Cops in Movies
In honor of David Ayer's Street Kings we did a little bad-to-worse survey of the boys who soil their blue. Some of them are hot, some of them caustic, but all of them are... More...
May 04, 2007:
The Weekly Ketchup: Dunst Forgives Self For Bad Acting, Downey Reflects On "Iron Man," New "Magneto" Director, And More!
In this week's Ketchup, Kirsten Dunst talks about the woes of blue-screen theatrics, Robert Downey Jr. discusses his "Iron Man" pedigree, and the new... More...
May 03, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Spidey Senses Tingling For a Record Opening Weekend
Will the friendly neighborhood webslinger reclaim the holy grail of the movie biz - the opening weekend box office record? More...
July 27, 2006:
Trailer Bulletin: Eric Bana & Drew Barrymore in "Lucky You"
I was wondering when we'd start getting smacked with all the poker movies ... and here comes one! Curtis Hanson's "Lucky You" stars Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, and... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds