LA Confidential (1997) - Full Reaction

So glad you watched this! This is a throwback to 50's-60's detective flicks. And yes it was the breakout role for both Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce. Pearce hasn't had as much of a star-studded career as Crowe, but he's done some great stuff. Check him out in "Memento", which was Christopher Nolan's breakout film, before Batman Begins. I totally get your need for justice at the end, but I like this because it's real. There would be no way for Exley to prove anything about Dudley Smith, so he would have to be willing to throw his career away to make accusations that could end up backfiring on him. He had to settle for knowing that he and Bud were responsible for truly cleaning up the L.A police force. Maybe he can write a book someday, but this was the best he could do for now. Anyway, love your work as always!

Kit Taylor

I've heard The Maltese Falcon called the best film noir ever and I wouldn't argue that. And I Married a Witch is a very entertaining movie. A fun spoof of the whole noir genre is The Cheap Detective with Peter Falk.

thansen

I think she is beautiful. Not quite on the level as Grace Kelly, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Veronica Lake, Gene Tierney, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, and many others from that era.

thansen

You are 4 years older than me. I agree with u. I have found throughout my life, blondes have been my weakness..however, it has been brunettes who could call me on my BS more and I needed that. lol. Keep me in check. Ingrid Bergman is another top tier for me. Casablanca is my favorite movie all time.

Dana Regan

Good points about being subjective. At age 14 in 1977, I had a poster of Farah Fawcett on my bedroom wall. I remember Michelle Phillips on Knot's Landing, and wasn't till later that I realize she was the thin girl in Mamas and Papas. While I think Margot Robbie is pretty, I couldn't put my finger on why I didn't necessarily initially think she was a stunning beauty. Imperceptive on my part I guess. She looked good in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and did Sharon Tate well. She looking good in Barbie.

Clay F

thats the great thing about subjectivity! Kim is fantastic actress..there was just something that I cant put my finger on that keeps her out of top tier. Imean, I didnt think Farah Fawcett was stunning, but Cheryl Ladd yes. lol. I would add Michelle Phillips to my list as well.

Dana Regan

In my opinion, Kim Basinger is stunningly beautiful. So is Grace Kelly. I like that Basinger is not just a pretty face, but also a good actor. As you know, she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in her role in this movie.

Clay F

Bud got out. He was over being a cop. Phoenix was perfect. Exley worked deal to cover it up but going forward I think he will run a cleaner police dept.

Dana Regan

Sorry, but Kim Basinger is not that beautiful to me. Grace Kelly, Ali Larter, Ingrid Bergman are top tier. Kim I put, well, in the category of her role. lol

Dana Regan

Its an ok movie. However, there is no way they would do any of that to the Gambino family or Crazy Joe's outfit if they came out west. They would be whacked in a hurry. So its a little unbelievable in that regard. lol

Dana Regan

One of the best movies Ive ever seen . Great Noir

Squ33ky

I remember that year. Didn't Mullholland Drive come out around the same time? Love me a good surreal neo-noir film

Carlos Stevens

In the year that was movies like Titanic, As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty and Good Will Hunting this got lost in the shuffle I felt. Nevertheless it did get the recognition it deserved. Not to mention it earned Kim Basinger the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Joe M

Yes, it will be coming to YT next week!

Cassie

Is this coming up on Youtube?

Marc Peterson

Great reaction. Great movie. I knew you would like it.

Rick Williams

One of my favorites. So glad you finally watched it. Love the old Hollywood vibes.

KauaiKeith

Seconded. Great flick.

warcrimes

This movie always makes me want to watch the granddaddy of classic film noir: the Maltese Falcon. That would be a fun reaction-it’s such a great film for Bogey. I also suggest I Married aWitch for Veronica Lake. I kind of have a soft spot for that one-I watch it every October.

Tinkerbell

Great Reaction. I was super shocked to see that you haven’t seen “Wind River”. Amazing crime movie with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olson.

Uncle Phoenix

Just fyi, I found the problem. Something to do with google drive, file size, ps3's and crt's. Something in there didn't mix. Yes my setup is a mess ha.

Erik Daniel

Thanks Rob, I appreciate you letting me know sir. That is pretty much the conclusion I've come to as well, I'll do some troubleshooting on my end and figure it out. Thanks for the input fellas!

Erik Daniel

Erik, it does sound like some kind of issue happened/is happening because of the way you have to download it first and then watch it. The video and reaction was in sync when I watched it. As with you, I'm not technical savvy either so I'm not much help giving you an answer as how to fix the problem, but I thought I'd let you know the video is working fine and it must be something on your end. Sorry I don't have any fix-it answers for you but best of luck and I hope you can figure it out.

Rob in PA

Oh, I see. The only time I've seen the audio lose sync with the video in the reaction is when I tried scrubbing the video to a certain point. But playing the video from beginning to end hasn't had any problems. That's as much as I understand about it.

Larry Darrell

Thank Larry, appreciate the reply very much. I am watching the movie on tv and downloaded reaction on another smaller tv. I don't think the problem is as you mentioned because it is off within only the reaction as well. For example when Cassie talks the actual audio in the reaction is lagged behind. And gets worse the longer it goes on. But if no one else is having the issue sounds like a problem with my download or something else over my head. I'll keep trying, but thanks again for the suggestion.

Erik Daniel

Are you watching the movie and full reaction on the same device? Don't know for sure, but could make one of the videos lag and get out of sync. I'm new to this and no expert either. The way I've been watching them together is Movie on the TV & Downloaded Full Reaction on my Phone. I use the blurred image to make sure I'm in sync and its an easy tool to use to stay in sync. If one is ahead of the other, hit pause and unpause real fast until its in sync.

Larry Darrell

Hey you awesome people. I was hoping someone could help me out. I've been trying to watch this since it was released but the audio is out of sync. For my setup I have to download the full reaction, and the audio is a bit slower than the video. So the longer the video goes, the more out of sync it gets. Is this just me? It might very well be since I am terrible in this computerized world. Sorry to bug and thank you for any help.

Erik Daniel

There’s a reunion of sorts for Russell Crowe and Tomas Arana who plays Breuning in Gladiator where Arana plays General Quintus.

Wes Stewart

I can't understand how she hasn't seen ROMANCING THE STONE, yet. It's on her father's list and the title even has Romance in it!

Steve Colletti

So this is the first time I have watched this since watching The Mentalist and I just realized the same actor who plays Patrick Jane on there is Matt Reynolds.

Timothy Burrows

I really hope she gets around to watching Roman Holiday on this channel because she will love it.

Tim Raths

"Some sneaky guys in the back with hats or something". I think we're(the US) is keeping you.

warcrimes

Last one, sorry. Thought it was funny that you confused Lana Turner for Marilyn Monroe. You weren't the first. Megan Fox used to have a tattoo on her forearm of, whom she said was, Marilyn Monroe. I seemed to be the only one that thought it looked more like Lana Turner

Larry Darrell

Oh, and two other movies that came to mind while watching were: I Married a Witch (1942) starring Veronica Lake and Fredric March, a very funny romantic comedy, from the golden age of romantic comedies (30s and 40s). The Nice Guys (2016) starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, an enormously funny "rated R" comedy, but with heart. This film is actually a reunion of sorts for Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, Los Angeles and the Detective genre.

Larry Darrell

So glad you liked this one, its one of my top films from the 90s. It definitely needs to be watched multiple times, and the more you know about the time period (40s & 50s Hollywood) the better it becomes. Two movies that were referenced in the film was Roman Holiday (1953), satrring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, which is one the greatest romantic comedies of all time and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), starring Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas, which is a terrific take on Hollywood. And, speaking of romantic comedies, Blind Date (1987), starring Kim Basinger and Bruce Willis was a favorite of mine growing up

Larry Darrell

@Christophet Carr: The Bogart film is also just called SABRINA. You are correct that it is based on the Samuel Taylor stageplay SABRINA FAIR, but the movie is quite different.

Stick Figure Studios

She'll also see DeVito again when she finally watches ROMANCING THE STONE and I'm hoping one day BIG FISH.

Stick Figure Studios

"I don't know who Veronica lake is." This means another movie that needs to get added into the rotation at some point is SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS.

Stick Figure Studios

I guarantee she would love A Beautiful Mind, and also Cinderella Man.

Johnny

Crowe has been in some really fantastic movies. If you want to see him at his best my suggestions would be The Insider and A Beautiful Mind.

JayF

I would love Cassie to react to Cinderella Man. Acting and storywise, it's so much better than Rocky 1.

G

I sent Cassie BODY HEAT as part of my 'less known films' campaign.

Steve Colletti

I'm always interested to hear what films inspire people to get into cinema (so far I've yet to hear anyone mention a "bad" movie for it). This is certainly a worthy candidate. For me, it's probably RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.

Stick Figure Studios

Actually they did really do a good job making her look like Veronica Lake. I just looked on Google images and there were a few color pictures of her and she did resemble her quite well. Here's one of the few that I found. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/VeronicaLake

Tim Raths

That was the first thing I noticed him in as well. Hated the movie (just a lousy film), but was definitely intrigued by him.

Stick Figure Studios

There have, of course, been many terrific films in this new century, but for me, the 90s was maybe the last great decade for cinema.

Stick Figure Studios

I took it the same way. He's still being political, but now he's doing it with a different motivation than he was earlier in the film. He's more righteous now.

Stick Figure Studios

I noticed this too, Shawn. Fortunately I already own it on DVD.

Stick Figure Studios

For pure, unbridled creativity, I think the 80s is tough to beat!

Uncle 'Traveling' Matt

I never had to download anything and Vimeo played perfect every time I watched a reaction.

Mike Lemon

Hi I only see options if I watch on YouTube if I try via the download this reaction option it just starts a 3.3GB download which keeps on failing half way through. Watching original plus reaction side by side was much easier when I could download rather than use YouTube but thanks for responding.

William Russell

As a HUGE Superman fan it would be cool to see someone who doesn't know Superman to watch Superman the Movie and Man of Steel back to back. I love them both.

TommyJ.

He never gives a bad performance. I'm a Superman fan and he was the perfect Jor-el.

TommyJ.

Look at 1994. 4 movies came out that should be watched by everyone, should be shown in schools. The Lion King, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption. But I'll always be an 80s guy.

TommyJ.

I think Russell Crowe's American film debut was The Quick and the Dead (1995). It's one of the western films you will like. It also features Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Russell Crowe also stars as a villain in Virtuosity (1995) opposite Denzel Washington. As a gamer, I think your husband will enjoy it as well. Romper Stomper (1992) was Russell Crowe's early film. You will hate him, but you can see his acting talent early on.

G

The Bogart version is actually Sabrina Fair the same as the play. The remake was shortened to Sabrina. I've watched the Big Sleep, liked it, but doesn't make a lot of sense. Even the hosts on TCM when it played said it was great and had more plot holes than Swiss cheese. China Town is good noir. Key Largo is great noir. My dad was a noir kind of guy . Enjoyed your comments.

Christopher Carr

In the movie Lynn (Kim Basinger) was supposed to strongly resemble Veronica Lake. Did she? I'm not sure because the only thing I think I saw Veronica Lake in was Sullivan's Travels (1941) and I really don't remember her. More famous actresses mentioned in the movie were Lana Turner (who showed up "for real" in the movie) and Rita Hayworth. You will remember Rita Hayworth from The Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dufresne asks Red for . . . Rita Hayworth! Turns out it was her poster, which hid his earliest tunneling efforts.

Mike LL

Actually, it was 1958 that Johnny was killed because that was the same year that Sean Connery knocked him out with one punch 👊 when he came onto the set of Another Time, Another Place (1958) wielding a gun in a jealous rage threatening both him and Lana Turner. The "Muscle Head" got out-muscled. 😁

Zane From Canada

She's seen that already?

Jon Johns

William, I'm not sure, but I think it takes time for multiple sizes to be available. My two choices this morning are "high" (720) and "medium" (480) -- if folks would like different sizes, please say so. Cassie & Ben can make that adjustment, I'm sure.

Jon Johns

One of my favorite movies.

warcrimes

LOL, Cassie's jump when Bud discovered Buzz's body was priceless. Might actually be better than the time she jumped and knocked her camera over ;). Hope she does a slow-mo instant replay for the Youtube version!

Eric Denney

If you watch until the end of the credits there’s a badge of honor episode in memory of jack Vincennes

Dale Shackleford

It's not a perfect analogy but, in many ways, I think this movie is to film noir what Unforgiven was to westerns. The 90s were a very interesting decade for film... perhaps the most interesting decade of the last 30 years.

Uncle 'Traveling' Matt

Philip G.

I'd like to think that Exley at the end manipulated the department so they wouldn't incriminate himself and Bud. It may have been the only way to do it even though it makes him look like a sellout. He is, after all, a master manipulator. Remember, he said "They're using me so 'for now' I'm using them."

3dbadboy1

Fsharetv.com has it.

Björn Karlsson

Really glad you moved to youtube for this one instead of Vimeo. Interface is so much better for my ipad.

djKENTO

Was planning about watching this, but it's not streaming anywhere! I can't even rent it on Amazon. Oh well. I'll just wait for Superman.

Shawn Kildal

Love this movie. It’s based on a book by James Ellroy, which is part of a series of now six books (I think?) dealing with the LAPD from the postwar era to the 60s (Perfidia, This Storm, The Big Nowhere, The Black Dahlia, LA Confidential, and White Jazz). Buzz Meeks, Edmund Exley, and especially Dudley Smith are major characters in many of them. In fact, I think Smith is the only character to appear in all of them. And he’s even more despicable in the books, if that’s possible. Oh, and Johnny Stompanado and Mickey Cohen were real people! Stompanado really did have an affair with Lana Turner and was killed in self-defense by her daughter in 1954. It was a huge story in LA at the time. The LAPD was then and remains a profoundly racist, violent, corrupt organization. I say this as a lifelong resident of Los Angeles. The police are not your friends here.

Brian Harris

Great reaction Cassie! As others have stated, the film style you were describing is called Film Noir. And this film is done in the style of Film Noir. The classify it as Neo Noir. Also, Kim Basinger, who played Lynn won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role. She was also married to Alec Baldwin. And is the mother of Ireland Baldwin. On a side note, I tried downloading your reaction using the Google Drive link. But it wasn’t working. I ended up streaming it off of YouTube. So everything’s fine. Just an FYI

Robert da Spruce

I'm not sure a whole lot of people turned their heads on that one. It flopped pretty hard at the box office (only made a little over half it's production budget), and the critical and viewer reviews were pretty sour. I guess you could say it got his name out there a bit, as did Virtuosity, but this was the film that really put him on the map in the states. And then between The Insider and Gladiator, his career exploded.

Brian Jones

Great will be staying up late tonight

Sean Stuart

Always look forward to Cassie's Fanfic Corner when the wrap-up starts.

Tyler Foster

"That was a lie?" she asked. So darn cute

nick bell

I was just getting ready to write a comment about film noir when she started describing it, but I see you've done it already. Despite the fact that she may not care for many of the films in that subgenre as they don't typically have happy endings, we really do need to get her to watch some of the great examples of noir... and not just fine neo-noir flicks is like CHINATOWN and BODY HEAT, but classics like DOUBLE INDEMNITY and TOUCH OF EVIL.

Stick Figure Studios

@Mike LL Body Heat is a great neo-noir and I don't think I've seen anyone react to it yet.

Tim Raths

Fantastic movie, one of my many favorites. Cassie: did you recognize that Exley was Guy Pearce, the same actor that played the hateful Count Mondego in "The Count of Monte Cristo"?

Christopher B.

And that is *also* one of the best Neo-noirs of the 20th century. I love BODY HEAT. It's one of my favorite films.

Stick Figure Studios

Great reaction. Was very impressed that Cassie recognized Kim Bassinger from the infamous Batman 89. Kim won the Supporting Actress Oscar for this movie. LA had 9 Oscar nominations, but against 11 Oscar winner Titanic it only won for Sup. Actress and the fantastic screenplay. Noir started in the '40's with the great Bogart detective movie classic The Maltese Falcon (1941), which we have suggested to Cassie many times. But I like The Big Sleep (1946) with Bogart better. Too bad both are old movies, lol. Maybe Cassie will watch Sabrina (1954) with Bogart at some point. Glad that Cassie pieced just about all the puzzle pieces from this byzantine plot. If you caught that Stenslend and Meeks were the two man shooter team that were taking out all the Cohen flunkies at the beginning of the movie and took away the briefcase of heroin the whole movie makes sense. I've been looking forward to this reaction for so long, and Cassie knocked it out of the park.

Mike LL

Absolutely. I just saw it for the first time last month. Great film with a great cast.

Shehab Dawoud

Body Heat (1981) is an underrated noir I believe. I really like that one.

Mike LL

Agreed, though I'm a bit more partial to Body Heat for that category.

Steve Colletti

I was obsessed with this movie in HS. It probably played a major part in my decision to study film

Neill Shaughness

I remembered that he was Sid, but wouldn't have gotten the version, right. Nice!

Steve Colletti

Yes, and used in the 'when something's so great' way of course. I guess it does cover a lot of ground ha.

Erik Daniel

The fact that you didn't recognize Danny DeVito is just heartbreaking.. Oh well, I'm still holding out hope for a Batman Returns reaction (around Xmas?) where you'd meet him again. The genre that you described at the end (Which was pretty spot on) is called Film Noir. It was at its peak in the 40s and 50s This film falls under the category of Neo-Noir, which is a revival of that genre. This film is right up there in the genre, but the best one for me is without a doubt Chinatown with Jack Nicholson. Hope we don't have to wait long before we see it here.

Shehab Dawoud

Sid 6.7. I watch that movie waay too much.

Erik Daniel

Correct. Cassie probably got mixed up with a different movie. Since Jojo has also been near the top for many polls as well.

Aaron Mann

Finally - I was hanging for this reaction. Looking forward to a great Saturday night with Cassie. Awesome Movie also. I can't believe how much I rely on Cassie's reaction to have a great weekend movie night. LOL. She's awesome - anyone agree!!!

John Cranberry

Tbh Vimeo always sucked. Half the links never worked and was forced to download every reaction. YouTube is way better. No need to download.

Sahitya

FETCH YES! I know what I'm doing tonight!

Jason Dolan

One of the best neo-Noir works of the 20th century. interesting characters portrayed by a terrific cast (Kim Basinger won her Oscar for this portrayal; curious to see if you recognized her from BATMAN), stark and striking cinematography by Dante Spinotti, a gorgeous music score by CHINATOWN composer Jerry Goldsmith, an intelligent screenplay with some surprise twists and turns. Just a first-rate film in all departments. For my money, this is the movie that should have won best picture at the Oscars that year, but there was no beating the cultural Juggernaut that was TITANIC. Looking forward to this reaction.

Stick Figure Studios

Donnie Brasco?

Brian McGovern

So now there in no option to download anything but the largest file size?

William Russell

Can't wait to watch this one! LA Confidential is a movie I have seen a dozen times at least and I never watch it without noticing something new. Brilliant, brilliant filmmaking. Also, I have a couple of random recommendations for you. I think you'd love Cinderella Man and Seabiscuit. Both would fit into either sports or history if you're looking to flesh out those categories anytime soon.

Rosanne Stewart

Looking forward to this one. Thanks for watching, Cassie.

Jason Chirevas

2019

Tim Raths

"I would like to have seen Montana". I love that you get that, and many more movie references just like it now. The student is on their way to becoming the master. Have fun Cassie and thank you, I have a wedding to attend tomorrow (I get nervous posting comments so wish me luck), and a night to myself tonight, so a movie night is perfect. And the company? Fuhgedaboudit.

Erik Daniel

Jo Jo rabbit could not have been one of the movies from 98 Oscar winners. That came out in 2018 or 2019, didn't it?

Brian McGovern

I first noticed Russell Crowe in 'Virtuosity' with Denzel Washington. He made quite the impression.

Steve Colletti

I think Romper Stomper actually got him noticed, but this was the movie that launched his Hollywood career. Romper Stomper is a great movie, but a very tough watch. Launched Guy Pearce's Hollywood career as well. Prior to this, he was starring in an Australian soap called Neighbours. Margot Robbie also started off in that show as well.

Brian McGovern

Thank you Cassie, this is one of my favorites of all time. I would say his break-out role as far as the U.S. is concerned would be "The Quick and the Dead" which came out a couple of years earlier. Great western with a female lead as a gunfighter and a very young Leo DiCaprio.

Beau Mont