Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #38 L.A. Confidential

Box Office: $64.6 Million

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Curtis Hanson), Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Sound

Oscar Wins: Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger), Best Adapted Screenplay

MovieRankings.Net: 95/100

Available To Stream: Netflix

It speaks volumes about how well this movie is crafted that a fantastic video game (L.A. Noire) came out 15 years later that carried the look and feel of the movie. The characters and Los Angeles that is shown in L.A. Confidential is so interesting that it does leave you wanting more. Because it's a period piece and so well directed, it also holds up remarkably well.

The cast doesn't hurt either. They took a shot on having two Australians who weren't huge names in America yet in Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce and both are fantastic here. Kim Basinger is so good in this movie that she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Mix in great character actors like James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and David Straithairn and you have a brilliantly acted movie.

Much of the credit needs to go to Brian Helgeland who wrote the script along with director Curtis Hanson. It's a screenplay filled with so much depth both in character and plot. Helgeland went on to have an odd career after this. He would be nominated for an Oscar for writing Mystic River but also wrote many uneven movies like 42, The Postman and The Taking Of Pelham 123.

Visually, it's a stunning movie that has had huge impact on movies and video games that take place in this time period. You'll even see shots from LA Confidential in Grand Theft Auto V. For a city that is shot as much in movies as L.A. Confidential is, it's pretty incredible that director Curtis Hanson was able to make it seem so fresh. This is the second Hanson movie on the top 100 (#78 The River Wild). He had a very nice run here with River Wild, this, Wonder Boys and 8 Mile. Sadly, Hanson died in 2016 from a rare from of dementia.

In some ways, I find Hanson to be the victim of bad timing. L.A. Confidential had no chance to beat out James Cameron and Titanic for the best picture race. But what if L.A. Confidential came out a year earlier? Does it beat The English Patient? If Wonder Boys comes out a year later in a much weaker year, can it get nominated for Best Picture over Gosford Park? At the end of the day, it doesn't change how good the movies are obviously. I'm just trying to show that he deserves more credit then he gets.

Monarchy. Shutterstock Images.

The only thing that doesn't age well in this movie is having Kevin Spacey in it. He's a fantastic actor and he's good in this but it's so distracting. It's not as noticeable in Seven or The Usual Suspects when he's playing a total piece of shit. However, this character is more complicated. He's not a good person at all but he's not a total scumbag. I believe you're supposed to like his portrayal of Hollywood Jack Vincennes. Spacey's presence is so huge in these 90's movies. It's great that this was a time when character actors could have such a huge presence in movies. I just wish they could have picked a different guy.

A lot of filmmakers try the noir genre but since their glory days in the 40's and 50's, this along with Chinatown are among the very best. Both Chinatown and L.A. Confidential take Los Angeles at its most idyllic right after WWII only to peel everything back to show the dark underbelly. We're due for another great one.

38. L.A. Confidential

39. Speed

40. Gattaca

41. Misery

42. Tombstone

43. Ransom

44. Wayne's World

45. The Insider

46. Back To The Future Part III

47. A Bronx Tale

48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt

49. Eyes Wide Shut

50. The Sandlot

51. Happy Gilmore

52. Contact

53. The Green Mile

54. Man On The Moon

55. Boyz N The Hood

56. Grosse Pointe Blank

57. Independence Day

58. The Rainmaker

59. Go

60. The Firm

61. Magnolia

62. The Talented Mr. Ripley

63. Tommy Boy

64. The Usual Suspects

65. In The Line Of Fire

66. My Cousin Vinny

67. Awakenings

68. JFK

69. Toy Story

70. Home Alone

71. Jerry Maguire

72. Titanic

73. Billy Madison

74. Apollo 13

75. Braveheart

76. Edward Scissorhands

77. Cape Fear

78. The River Wild

79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

80. 12 Monkeys

81. Stir Of Echoes

82. Mission: Impossible

83. Total Recall

84. Quiz Show

85. For Love Of The Game

86. Being John Malkovich

87. Men In Black

88. Scream

89. Alive

90. Three Kings

91. Glengarry Glen Ross

92. Die Hard With A Vengeance

93. The Blair Witch Project

94. Twister

95. Dirty Work

96. Election

97. Tremors

98. Any Given Sunday

99. The Wedding Singer

100. Clerks