L.A. Confidential proved that it was still possible to fashion an actor-driven detective yarn in 1990s Hollywood.

Rating: 9/10 (22 December 2009)

L.A. Confidential is a tough, gorgeous, vastly entertaining throwback to the Hollywood that did things rights. The story is about a group of Los Angeles police in the 1950s, and police corruption bumping up against Hollywood celebrity.
The film has a gloriously labyrinthine narrative, wrapped around half a dozen morally compromised figures worthy of films in their own right: tautly directed, lavishly produced and superlatively performed by everyone from its up-and-coming young stars to the smallest big player, this was one of the finest – not to mention toughest – American pictures of the 1990s. L.A. Confidential was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two, Kim Basinger for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland for Best Screenplay - Adapted.