Easily one of the 1990's best movies

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 2005)

I rented and watched L.A. Confidential primarily because I had heard that it was an entertaining period piece set in the 1950s. It certainly was, but it was so much more than that. I was truly amazed by this movie. I am hard-pressed to think of other movies where the acting is so flawless, the story so complex, the dialogue so riveting, and the characters so human. The casting was, as far as I'm concerned, virtually perfect. Guy Pearce plays the ambitious and slightly naive Edmund Exley perfectly, and ditto to Russel Crowe as the brutal and chivalrous Bud White. Kevin Spacey nails the slick, suave Jack Vincennes, and James Cromwell plays the soft-spoken, corrupt and slightly sinister Dudley Smith to a T. It is totally convincing as a period piece- I actually felt like I was in the 1950s, watching it. There is some fairly heavy profanity, violence, and sexual content, but if you can handle it, this is a must-see movie for any film fan.