Nine Oscar nominations, five stars in the DashFUN review, and 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes – these are the impressive numbers that “LA Confidential” has. If you don’t know the classic yet, you should definitely take a look at ZDF Neo on April 1st.
There was one reason above all that “LA Confidential” was “only” awarded two trophies out of nine nominations at the Oscars in 1998: strong competition. In the same year, a certain James Cameron not only brought the most successful film of all time to the cinemas for many years with “Titanic”, but also raked in a large number of prizes with the romantic epic. Almost 25 years later, the gangster thriller by director Curtis Hanson (“8 Mile”), set in Hollywood in the 1950s, is nonetheless one of the Cult films of the 90s that film fans should definitely have seen – if only because of its outstanding cast.
So if you probably don’t know the film yet, we recommend that you take the opportunity tonight: ZDF Neo shows “LA Confidential” on April 1, 2022, at 10 p.m. Alternatively, you can simply stream the film: The film is currently available as a subscription to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Joyn PLUS+:
To get you in the mood, we have the original trailer for you here, in which a show of the megastars awaits you. Also present: are Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, James Cromwell, and Danny DeVito.
That’s what “LA Confidential” is about
A seemingly senseless bloodbath unnerves the Los Angeles Police Department, as a lawman is among the six dead. And that’s exactly why Jack Vincennes (Spacey), Bud White (Crowe), and Edmund Exley (Pearce) are three of the best detectives in town on the case. While Vincennes plays to his ties with influential tabloid editor Sid Hudgens (DeVito), the goon White and the over-correct Exley couldn’t be more different.
However, their fundamentally different qualities will soon be of great use to them. Because in the course of their investigation, which leads them, among other things, to a seedy millionaire and operator of a call girl ring (David Strathairn), they are drawn deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of drugs, murder, and corruption…
Film noir at its finest
“LA Confidential” is excellently written (the screenplay won an Oscar), superbly acted (for Kim Basinger as well), and grippingly staged, so that over the running time of more than two hours there is never a moment of boredom. This is also what our 5-star review of the film says: “A film noir at its finest. A bitter but not malicious reckoning that avoids falling into clichés. A thrilling, entertaining, fast-paced film from beginning to end.”
Not only did we give the gangster thriller full marks, but we also did in 2016 Ranked 41st in our list of the top 100 films of all time – and we are not alone in this. While the film also featured on numerous other leaderboards such as by TIME can be found, the average ratings on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes (99 percent) and MetaCritic (90 out of 100 points) clear language. Our tip: Be sure to take a look and let yourself be carried away to the wicked Hollywood of days gone by.
