L.A. Confidential (1997) ✦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2025-03-05 04:00:03 +0000 UTCHi everyone! Thank you again so much to Den for picking this for their Member of the Month win for February. I'm looking forward to your thoughts! Thanks so much for watching with me. 😊 [Direct link here.]
✦ KL
Comments
James Ellroy, the author, has a whole series of interconnected novels about Los Angeles during this period called the L.A. Quartet. This is just one of them. Bud’s story about his father killing his mother, and Exley’s story about his father are both reflections of Ellroy’s own experience—his mother was murdered, and her killer was never caught. Ellroy recounts all of this in his book My Dark Places which is now considered a classic in the True Crime genre.
Nicholas Bielik
2025-03-11 08:14:15 +0000 UTCThe LAPD really did keep the mafia out of LA because they were so corrupt themselves though the film fictionalizes those events. Keep in mind that when this film came out in the late 90s, the department was still hip deep in scandals and corruption (the Rodney King beating and the Rampart scandal being two notable ones from the 90s), so this film was really pointing out that this stuff had been going on for a long long time.
Nicholas Bielik
2025-03-11 07:59:28 +0000 UTCAs has become my habit… https://boxd.it/34RTWl
Jason Chirevas
2025-03-07 00:28:53 +0000 UTCI still have the soundtrack on CD somewhere. It's probably on youtube or spotify.
SnabbKassa
2025-03-06 07:59:13 +0000 UTCNot that it makes it right, but the thing about Bud is that Bud is used to being muscle rather than brains. He says it to Lynn in her bedroom after they look at the pillow with her hometown on it, that he is tired of simply being used as intimidation for out-of-town gangsters, but he also believes "I'm not smart enough" to solve the case, even though he knows that Exley got the wrong guys. When Dudley brings Bud to the Victory motel to "interrogate" Sid Hudgens, it's a scenario concocted to bring the worst out of Bud: first, he assumes the photos of Lynn with "some cop" are photos of himself and Lynn, which infuriates and frightens him on one level. Learning that it is actually Exley in the picture makes him even madder because he still hates Exley, all on top of the fact that he and Lynn do truly seem to love one another, so his heart is broken. While there's no excuse for hitting her, it is also unsurprising that Dudley's trick makes Bud instinctively return to what he has convinced himself is his only tool, violence and rage. I think this is probably why she forgives him for it at the end: not only was he manipulated into it (in part through her own participation in the photos), but it also seems pretty clear that he immediately understands that he did something he can never take back. I agree that Spacey gives the weakest of the three leading performances in the movie, although I do like the moment where Exley asks Vincennes why he became a cop, and he says "I don't remember." Sadly, Guy Pearce commented in a recent interview on the press tour for the awards contender he's in that he recently rewatched it and thought he was terrible in the movie -- but that could also be a position complicated by his recent revelation (as in, it was something he himself had to realize and come to terms with) that he felt Spacey had sexually harassed him while making the movie. They have tried multiple times to make more of L.A. Confidential. In 2003, they filmed a TV pilot that was not picked up, with Kiefer Sutherland in the Jack Vincennes role. I believe this is included on some Blu-rays of the movie. In 2019, they gave it a second shot as a show, this time with Walton Goggins playing Vincennes, but again the show was not picked up. In 2023, screenwriter Brian Helgeland revealed that he and book author James Ellroy worked out a pitch for a sequel to the movie, and they took it to various outlets, including Warner Bros., where the first movie was distributed (it was actually owned by Regency, whose distribution deal shifted a few years ago from Warner to 20th Century Fox, meaning various major films like Point Break, Heat, and L.A. Confidential stopped being Warner Bros. films and became 20th Century Fox films, and later Disney films when the merger went through, which is why it was on D+). They had gotten both Pearce and Crowe to agree to return, and they had attached Chadwick Boseman as a younger cop, but nobody wanted to make it -- the Netflix executive they pitched it to actually fell asleep. A tragedy, as I'd have liked to see that. The film was directed by Curtis Hanson, who passed away in 2016. Hanson also directed Wonder Boys, a movie that might make for a good reaction. Lots of future megastars in that before they had gone onto the things they're known for today.
Tyler Foster
2025-03-05 16:44:54 +0000 UTCYou know, I'm not sure if I like this film or not. I first saw it years ago and was like eh, definitely not a bad film. But, some how not memorable enough to leave 'that impression' really great films can. Then I watched it again a year or so ago, and sorta felt, yeah this ain't half bad. Thinking about watching it a third time, I'm a bit apathetic about the idea. Hey, but I guess ambivalence is way better than straight up distain. Maybe, third times the charm, is the answer. 😆
Death Lego
2025-03-05 15:51:41 +0000 UTCI vaguely remember seeing this in the cinema back when it came out and loved it. It has such a good ensemble cast and was the film that won Kim Bassinger and Oscar (and I feel it was well deserved). I also love how over the course of the film, Bud goes from being just a thug to a surprisingly complex character. Russell Crowe did a really good job portraying him. I think that moment when he hit Lynn he immediately hated himself for it. One of the touches I love is that Lynn took Bud straight to her real bedroom, not the fake one she entertains clients in. As for your comment about Spacey, I get where you're coming from. He was a really good actor who has always impressed me in films, but after later revelations... All I can say is that thankfully he's mostly faded from view making it a lot easier to separate the person from the art. I also love that at the end Ed did the thing that Dudley thought he couldn't.
Paul Howard
2025-03-05 11:57:12 +0000 UTCAn absolutely spectacular movie...one of the best book adaptations out there, honestly. I love me some good detective noir, and this hits all the marks. Good shit.
Steve Mercier
2025-03-05 11:03:36 +0000 UTCJust got up so will be watching this later. This is probably my favourite movie adaption. I think turning the third book in a series into something that can stand by itself is pretty incredible. Hopefully nobody's disappointed with my pick!
Den
2025-03-05 05:07:24 +0000 UTCHaven't even watched yet but still gotta say something. First found this movie when we were trading DVD collections during a millitary deployment. Loved it so much that when my leave came around and I'm back home for a month, before I go back overseas, I set aside time to gather a few friends. The kind of thing where it wasn't "I want you to watch this movie at some point in your life", no. Instead it was deeply "I want to watch you guys watch this movie. I want to be in the same room". You know, that kind of thing. Back before there were reactors we had to make do our own way. And now here it is again, so its a great day. Thanks, Den!
Richard Flores
2025-03-05 04:52:00 +0000 UTCSo I was sitting here thinking about Quantumania and honestly couldn’t remember if KL had watched it yet. I hopped on here to investigate and found this video. The Quantum deep dive is to be continued. It’s old school investigation time. “Hush,hush”
CheshireKat528
2025-03-05 04:47:22 +0000 UTC
