25 Greatest Warner Bros Movies Ever
16. LA Confidential
Though it was destined only to win two of the nine Oscars it was nominated for, LA Confidential rightly deserves to be considered one of the greatest neo-noir movies ever made. It is an exercise in whip-sharp writing, explosive character acting and compelling drama that is as seductive as it is thrilling.
Though the narrative blossoms out of a central crime, the real focus is on the characters, their psychology and their intertwining dynamic and it helps that the four main performances - Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kim Basinger - are all revelatory. It's in the ebb and flow of their dynamic: between Crowe's almost animal toughness, Pearce's tightly wound pressure, Spacey's casual offbeat anti-charm and Basinger's disarming, seductive charm.
It's a very clever film, beautifully well written (what more could you expect from a James Ellroy?) and it tumbles through twists organically and without empty manipulation, trusting the audience to stay on the right track, but leaving enough hidden for great thrills.