Ranking What Was Really The Best Film Of Every Year 1990-2021
25. 1997 - L.A. Confidential
Actually won: Titanic.
Titanic is a great film, sweeping and romantic and emotionally devastating in equal measure, but it's yet another obvious Oscar winner that due to its publicity and scale unfairly overshadowed the year's actual Best Picture, L.A. Confidential.
A neo-noir crime thriller from director Curtis Hanson, adapted from the novel of the same name by James Ellroy, L.A. Confidential's tale of corruption, morality and the allure of the celebrity is told without fault, boosted to greatness by its ensemble cast and enveloping real-world parallels.
James Cameron's tragic historical romance is a fantastic achievement, but L.A. Confidential's raging pace and slick style makes it the best film of the year.