Episode 355 · Film year 1997
L.A. Confidential (1997)
- Special Guest
- James Ellroy
- Guest Co-Hosts
- Richard Edwards, Eric Cohen
Show notes
Eric Cohen (opens in a new tab) and Richard Edwards (opens in a new tab) return to take a ride in a convertible time machine, be-bopping back to the year 1997 to look at Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential. Starring more folks from down under than you can shake a boomerang at, this jazzy flick plays with many classic noir tropes while playing fast and loose with the third book of James Ellroy (opens in a new tab)'s first L.A. Quartet.
We examine how Hanson and co-writer Brian Helgeland masterfully condensed Ellroy's compelling and complicated story to craft a Neo-Noir that some rank among the best. The film features dazzling performances from "newcomers" Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.
We examine how Hanson and co-writer Brian Helgeland masterfully condensed Ellroy's compelling and complicated story to craft a Neo-Noir that some rank among the best. The film features dazzling performances from "newcomers" Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.
Labels: 1997 Brian DePalma Curtis Hanson Danny DeVito Eric Cohen Guy Pearce James Ellroy Neonoir Noirvember Richard Edwards Russell Crowe
Watch
Music credits
- "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" - Johnny Mercer
- "Bloody Christmas" - Jerry Goldsmith
Links & resources
- Buy L.A. Confidential on Blu-ray (opens in a new tab)
- Buy L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy (opens in a new tab)
- Listen to the Out of the Past episode on The Black Dahlia (opens in a new tab)
- Read The Dark Places of James Ellroy by Mike White (opens in a new tab)
- Buy L.A. Confidential by Manohla Dargis (opens in a new tab)
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Comments (2)
Unknown Enjoyed the bit about "Lose the glasses, Ed...". It got the gears turning, and it led to to see the film as a rhapsody on the theme of stoic vs. faith-based operating procedure. The glasses represent a stoic, empirical basis for running an enforcement operation. What happens when you take off the glasses? You operate on a faith-basis. And what does that look like in L.A. Confidential? It means that "good" officers *believe* a creed, and that system of belief "functions": It produces "leads", arrests, and convictions. BUT (per L.A.Conf) it *doesn't* produce justice, or even truly effective law enforcement. That's the key. Of course, the film goes on to show that a system based on operational beliefs is vulnerable to Dudley. One of your guests said that thing about Dudley's error being his underestimation of those officers. I go one further and say that he also failed to anticipate the ascent of a healthy, republican stoicism foiling his well-oiled belief-driven organization of compliant, drunk, racist cops.Anonymous BTW, at some point, Exley, White and Vicennes all look disapprovingly at themselves in a mirror and mirrors are all over the place in the movie. It is a common motif in the film. Also, it was a production design choice for the lead characters NOT to wear hats, to make the characters more relatable to a modern audience. I think I also heard Hanson justify it somewhere that men in LA wore hats less than they did in the movies. LOL. But they did make sure background characters wore hats.