344: LA Confidential (1997)

We continue our look at Los Angeles-set neo-noir films, this time with the 1997 Academy Award-winning L.A. Confidential. Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and Kevin Spacey star as three very different LAPD detectives in a changing city where some cops embrace the corruption, some look the other way, and some are determined to root it out. An investigation into a series of murders in 1950s Los Angeles threatens to expose what's really going on beneath the sunny, shiny surface. Based on the novel by James Ellroy, L.A. Confidential was directed by Curtis Hanson and also stars Kim Basinger, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, David Strathairn, and Ron Rifkin. It was nominated for 9 Oscars including Best Picture, winning two: Best Supporting Actress, Kim Basinger; and Best Adapted Screenplay, Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson.