The movie is essentially a pareddown, cleaner version of the book. Sagalike narrative hardboils down to three gutsy, basically honest but flawed lapd officers. Confidential is epic noir, a crime novel of astonishing detail and scope. Noir cut to look of the period, not about the period.
Officer bud white, on the other hand, is brutal, violent, vengeful and jack trashcan vincennes, formerly of the. Jun 06, 20 1950s hardboiled detective noir that goes deeper and darker than any other book in the genre, l. Rich developer, pierce patchett, runs a stable of highclass hookers who are ringers for movie stars. Vicennes, a clothes horse, consults for a dragnetlike tv show. It puts the artifice first and foremost, yet remains utterly charming. Curtis hanson had read half a dozen of james ellroys books before l. Confidential by brian helgeland based on the novel by james ellroy. Confidential by curtis hanson curtis hanson, kevin. Confidential is occasionally confusing due to many minor characters its fine acting and impressive storytelling makes up for that problem. Hard to find but if you have it you know your living the good life.
Confidential series based on james ellroys 1990 novel. Here, i wanted to linger on the last page a little longer, i. Confidential by james ellroy 55 the third book in the l. Jun 20, 2012 rushed is how i would describe the ending, as well. Ed and bud both after a big fight, decide to work together and seek refuge in the motel that dudley kept using to convince unwanted guests to leave. The 50 best opening credit sequences of all time indiewire. Published in 1990, it was ellroys coming out party as a force to be reckoned with in the genre and the dawn of a new generation in crime fiction. Confidential 1990 is a neonoir novel by james ellroy, and the third of his l.
Based on a book by leading crime author james ellroy, l. Confidential and was drawn to its characters, not the plot. The police, led by captain dudley, convince wiseguys from jersey, cleveland, and elsewhere to go home. Confidential is a 1997 american neonoir crime film directed, produced and cowritten by curtis hanson. Eds whole motivation towards solving the case was for his father who was murdered by an unknown person he calls rollo tamasi. Confidential isnt just one of the best crime dramas of the past two decades. A horrific mass murder invades the lives of victims and victimizers on both sides of the law. The movie is an excellent instance of adapting from a novel with a complicated story line. Often times just remembering whos who diverts our attention away from the plot. Adapting a novel into a screenplay is an extremely difficult prospect as the film has to convert the image that was captured over several hundred pages into a few hours of video. Nov 03, 2015 the 50 best opening credit sequences of all time. Confidential, ed exley is in a supposedly soundproof interview room, giving a statement to two detectives. So that would explain why they are in both trying to keep things in. He is observed by a group of others, including the chief of police and the da, who sit outside the room behind a oneway mirror.
The plot, based on the novel by james ellroy, can only be described as. The film tells the story of a group of lapd officers in 1953, and the intersection of police corruption and hollywood celebrity. Ellroy is a master of crime, seamlessly weaving three narratives in his deliciously dark. There is one closing line near the end that will require you to stop reading for a. Even when ya know the plot from the movie its still riveting. Confidential, a drama based on james ellroys noir classic novel. The plot to replace cohen blindsides three plainclothes cops. The magazine sank in a sea of lawsuits, but it created a genre. Destruction from the air the army air forces confidential picture h by jr. Detective lieutenant exley guy pearce, the son of a murdered detective, is out to avenge his fathers killing. In the end, ellroy gave the film his blessing though he called the plans. Confidential is epic noir, a crime novel of astonishing detail and scope written by the bestselling author of the black dahlia.
Without giving away any spoilers its last chapter is vital in understanding this book. Confidential ist ein usamerikanischer spielfilm des regisseurs curtis hanson aus dem. Confidential and millions of other books are available for instant access. He takes all of the themes he explored in previous novels and packs them into a book thats an even larger, more epic tale of crime, perversion, and hollywood corruption than any of his previous books. Ed exley, a patrician who venerates his herocop father, presumably holds high ideals and unassailable standards. Snoop dogg and cypress hill namechecked it in some of their songs.
And three lawmen are caught in a deadly spiral, a nightmare that. We knew a lot of the content of the book would have to go, but we were also both. Confidential is a 1997 american neonoir crime film directed, produced and cowritten by. The epigraph is a glory that costs everything and means nothingsteve erickson. Confidential by brian helgeland based on the novel by. Confidential has been hailed by critics as one of seminal works of neonoir. The national enquirer of the 1950s when confidential magazine launched in 1952, it feasted on the type of juicy gossip that could launch or ruin a career. A period film set in the vein of neonoir movies such as chinatown with a great cast of actors is something i thought i wouldve considered great. And this might be why i buy into confidential more than our last film. To me, the arrival of a films end credits feels like the closing of a book.
Confidential by james ellroy grand central publishing. Confidential holds enough plots for two or three books. Confidential feels like the book that james ellroy has been preparing for and working up to during his entire career up to this point. The screenplay by hanson and brian helgeland is based on james ellroys 1990 novel of the same name, the third book in his l. Confidential was a key magazine of the 1950s, a monthly that sold millions of copies with its seamy exposes of celebrity drugs and sex. The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. Energetic, sprawling and often stylistically irritating police procedural that follows three lapd members over a tenyear period, beginning in 1950. Lemay and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Confidential is one of my favourite books of all time, and my favourite james ellroy book. James ellroy on his nervous breakdown, tv adaptations and.
A great movie directed by curtis hanson about crime and corruption in the city of l. Confidential 1997 full movie dead pigs 2018 full movie the making of full metal jacket duration. Films such as the big chill successfully avoided that problem, and while l. I wanted an extra 5 seconds of black with nothing but jerry goldsmiths music before the end credits. The action is driven along by his breakneck writing style, and his staccato style shows its first signs in the head of jack vincennes. I found it on my dads night table and read it breathlessly, the stories of reefer parties, multiple divorces, wifeswapping and leading men who liked to wear frilly undergarments.