Masterpiece is an understatement

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2016)

L.A. Confidential is three movies in one. Every time you watch it, you enjoy it more and more. And the third time you can only give it the maximum 10/10 quote on IMDb. The acting is phenomenal. Don't forget that Russell Crowe was not nominated for an Oscar but in 2001 got one for "Gladiator", Best Actor in a Leading Role and nominated for 2 more ("The insider" and "A beautiful mind"). One year earlier Kevin Spacey won his Oscar (Best Actor in a Supporting Role) in "The Usual Suspects", another favorite movie of mine and also Top Rated. In this movie he was also not nominated. But in 2000 took the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in "American Beauty". And the same applies to Guy Pearce who also outperformed in L.A. Confidential and also not nominated. But with "Memento", another Top Rated movie (again one of my all-time favorite movies) got 2 Oscars (or at least the Nolan Brothers). So we have a top cast with actors who already made it, or who made it a bit later and shined so bright here that you'd have to have wear sunglasses to watch the movie. Another example, Simon Baker, who plays Matt Reynolds. The scene where Vincennes meets with Sid Hudgens to arrange a sexual encounter with Matt Reynolds takes only 2 minutes. But you can see that Simon Baker has all it takes to become a great actor (and featured in "The mentalist" later – not to compare with this movie, but strictly seen from an acting point of view). These are just four great actors but it's the whole cast. To my humble opinion all of them outperformed, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Paul Guilfoyle and so on. Combine this with a plot that's unbeatable, perfect directing (Curtis Hanson – "Bad Influence", "Too big to fail" etc) and you have an explosive combination that can only lead to a true masterpiece.
Try to find something negative about this movie (apart from the fact that it missed out on the Oscars) and let me know. If you can, I'll buy you a bottle of Champagne, Dom Pérignon from 1952 – 1953, the year of L.A. Confidential and the year of the best Champagnes from DP.