Music by Jerry Goldsmith.
Cinematography by Dante Spinotti.
Kevin Spacey as Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes
Russell Crowe as Officer Bud White
Guy Pearce as Det. Let. Edmund "Ed" Exley
Kim Bassinger as Lynn Bracken
James Cromwell as Capt. Dudley Smith
Danny DeVito as Sid Hudgens
David Strathairn as Pierce Patchett
Ron Rifkin as D.A. Ellis Lowe
Film Budget: $35 million. Box Office: $126.2 million
Released 14 May 1997.
EXLEY. How's it going to look on your report? Huh?
BUD. It'll look like justice. That's what the man got. Justice.
So goes the exchange between two of our three protagonists after Bud White murders (a deliberate word choice) one of the rapists holding the young woman hostage. Did you see that coming? It's a shocking scene—I heard gasps from some of you.
This 1997 film by Curtis Hanson was a major commerical and critical success, making over $126 million against its $35 million budget. In addition, as the oracle that is Wikipedia tells us, "L.A. Confidential was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two, Kim Basinger for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Sound Mixing (Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Kirk Francis), but lost all the categories to Titanic." So you're watching Hollywood at its best, where commerce and art come together seamlessly.
Clearly, justice—its meaning and application—is one of the main themes of the film. We see it stated explicitly in the quote at the top of the post. Earlier, Captain Dudley Smith asks Ed Exley:
"Would you be willing to plant corroborative evidence on a suspect you knew was guilty in order to ensure an indictment? Would you be willing to beat a confession out of suspects you knew to be guilty? Would you be willing to shoot hardened criminals in the back to offset the chance—"
"—they'll be freed," I think is how that line of thought would end. Clearly, this is not a dilemma for Bud White. For Exley it is, though—yet he's willing to rat out, so to speak, his fellow officers, partly for his own benefit. So:
1. Yes or no: Exley should have testified against his fellow police officers. Why or why not?
2. Yes or no: Bud White was justified in shooting the rapist. Why or why not?
3. Which of the three—Exley, Bud White, Jack Vincennes—do you feel most drawn to? Why? And which of the three do you think is the most moral?
4. Reaction to the movie so far? Like? Dislike? Why? And what scene or moment has stuck with you most—and why?
See you all tomorrow!
1. Yes, Exley should have testified against the officers because justice is the point of his job and he’s supposed to be loyal to the citizens when they are being hurt. Exley’s job is not to cover up and lie for his coworkers. While one could argue it is important for your fellow officers to trust you, if the citizens don’t trust you then there isn’t a point in being a cop.
ReplyDelete2. I personally think Bud White was justified to shoot the rapist because he was a rapist because of what he did to Inez Soto, the girl who got raped. That is the only reason, rapists are horrid people.
3.Exley is the one I’m most drawn to and that I believe is the most moral because he puts the job first and doesn’t cover of the bad deeds of himself. He also seems to feel guilt more than the others. I appreciate that express of guilt.
4. I really like the movie. I don’t like how every woman seems to be a sex object or a secretary but other than that I like it. I was really struck by Kevin Spacey’s character not having a reason for becoming a cop, in comparison to the other two it was really powerful and spoke a lot about his character. I wanna know how this movie ends.
1. Exley was definitely justified in testifying against his fellow officers. They took advantage of their positions of authority. Unprovoked, the officers attacked the Latino inmates. The inmates are already detained, so there is no reason to get violent with them. They were also discriminating based on race. Back then that wasn’t seen as a problem, but today it is obvious to most how immoral that is.
ReplyDelete2. Bud was not justified in shooting the rapist. He was not a threat to Bud at that moment, so he should have just been cuffed. Bud let his own personal issues get in the way of him doing his job properly. His job is not to kill criminals, but to keep people out of danger. It should not be the decision of a single person whether another gets to live.
3. Bud is my favorite of the three officers. For the most part, he does his job for the right reasons. He keeps others safe, specifically women. He is a much warmer person than either Vincennes or Exley. His behaviors, however, are often controlled by his emotions, and not by the law. While he is not justified in shooting the rapist, he shot him for reasons that are easy to empathize with. He is the most relatable of the three main characters. On the other hand, I think that Exley is the most moral of the three. He acts on logic and not on emotion. He follows his ethics strictly. He has not yet killed anyone in an illegal manner. He appears to care more about others than himself.
4. I am really enjoying this movie so far. I will be interested to see how all of the plotlines tie together. The scene, to me, that is most memorable is when Bud tells Lynn why he is so protective of women in domestic violence situations. I loved getting background on his character and learning the reason behind his actions. I think that he is the most complex character of the three protagonists.
I think Exley testified against his fellow police officers to get an upper edge against them, not to truly seek justice. With that being said, his intent was wrong, but I think he was right to testify. The officers clearly did wrong in harshly beating those guys in the station. They should be testified against and booted off their job. I just think Exley wanted to see his other officers go down, purely for his own potential success.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Bud White was justified in shooting the rapist. At that point, he didn’t know who the guy was and if he even was the rapist. All she did was point to the other room. I think he should have shot him, but not killed him, maybe in the leg or something. Then he should have questioned him and sentenced him after he found out more information.
I don’t really feel drawn to any of them. They all have good tendencies, but also have bad qualities as well. Exley tries to throw his fellow officers under the bus, Bud White puts his gun in the victim that he just shot hands, and Jack Vincennes seems to be doing the job for show business. Maybe Jack has the most moral. I haven’t seen enough of the movie to judge them yet.
So far, I like this movie. It started off kind of slow, but after the Nite Owl scene and the officers realizing that they might have killed the wrong suspects has intrigued me. The scene that has stuck with me has been when the lady was tied up on the bed. It was very disturbing to see.
1. I think Exley testifying against his fellow officers was justified. Exley is not wrong for standing against the violence against inmates in jail. He knows the outcome of this situation, but chooses to testify anyways. I see nothing wrong with this, except that he will lose some popularity with his peers; a reasonable tradeoff in the name of justice.
ReplyDelete2. No. I don’t think White’s shooting of the rapist is justified. Although the rapist committed horrible crimes, I know that all people have the right to a fair trial. That’s something this man was denied. I don’t, by any means, think that the rapist should be allowed to live, but I DO think that’s for the court to decide, not an officer.
3. While it may be easy to be drawn towards Ed Exley for his superhero, law abiding, justice serving outlook on life, I personally like Bud White the most of all the cops. White is good at his job and effective when it comes to getting things done, such as getting information from a suspected killer. Although White made some questionable choices when he shot the rapist and placed a gun in his hand, I do think that he’s still good at his job, and has good mindset when it comes to getting the job done and helping others in need.
4. So far, I love the movie. This is exactly the type of movie that I like to watch in my free time. The scene that definitely stuck with me most was the interrogation scene. The scene where Fontaine was crying and bleeding really freaked me out because it was so intense. This scene was also an example of White doing his job right; he literally played Russian Roulette in the suspected killers mouth.
1. Yes, Exley should have testified against his fellow police officers because what they did was extremely wrong and unprofessional specially getting drunk on the job and also, he wanted to get justice for what had happened.
ReplyDelete2. No, Bud White was not justified in shooting the rapist because, the rapist was not armed but Bud still ended up shooting the rapist and Bud White had planted an evidence which he could have been charged with Murder. Also, Bud was taking the case a little to personal which is unprofessional for an officer.
3. I don’t really feel drawn to any of the characters but I do like Exley because he follows the rule and he wanted Lieutenant Detective position and he got it. I also like how Jack Vincennes started out the movie by stopping crime just for show and to be on a magazine but as times goes by, you can tell towards the end that he is trying to do the right thing.
4. I like the movie so far but at some points it did bother me specially when they had a black man as a rapist or when the officers were drunk on the job and were fighting inmates. The scene that stuck with me is the scene when Bud wanted to meet Lynn again and Lynn asked for his first name and he turned her down.
1. Exley was fully justified in testifying. What the officers did was not only extremely wrong but an indicator of how they may typically behave towards minorities and other easy targets. Exley is an honest police officer and wants to be loyal his fellow officers but he will not violate human decency to do this.
ReplyDelete2. Bud should not have shot the supposed rapist. The man was not a threat in that moment. The officer reacted emotionally and impulsively, which is not typically a good way for an officer to behave. The man he shot should be punished and if the court decides death should be the punishment then so be it. By shooting the man immediately the officer cannot get the whole story and may miss out on important information related to other cases.
3. I feel most drawn towards Exley. He is level headed, respectful and humble. He thinks before he acts and often has a plan. For example when he testified against the officers he proposed a way to harm them as little as possible while still making the statement that this was not acceptable behavior. In the beginning of the film he is often disrespected by the other officers but he keeps his compusure, does his job and stands up for what he believes in. He tries not to use excess violence and seems to truly value his job for the good he can do with it.
4. I most definitely like this the movie. It has all the excitement of sex violence and murder but still has substance. The movie creates complex moral situations and connections of different people's lives. The movie makes strong commentary on the culture of police force at that time while still valuing and demonstrating all the good many officers do. I enjoyed when Bud decided to continue looking into the white owl case. I thought Bud did a good job of talking to the woman respectfully while still finding valuable information.
1) Yes he is justified. He believes in a definition of justice in which his fellow officers have not followed. It is his job to protect civilians and since he was physically unable to protect them against the brutal beatings of other officers this is how he can help. I also believe what the officers did was wrong and they deserve to be punished so I am glad he testified. They got what they deserved.
ReplyDelete2) I find this question so hard because seeing that scene of the woman tied up, swollen raped and bruised I was furious and I could see why he shot him. It was clear the man was connected to the raping of torture of this girl so it wasn’t as if he was innocent. In complete candor the only reason I would have kept him alive is to get more evidence on the other men involved. Then on top of that knowing Buds back story I can see why he too would want to shoot him.
3) I am drawn to Bud White the most. He has a complex story behind him which gives reason for his ethics. I find it interesting how deep his character goes especially for being called a “dumb brute” by many people. I’m drawn to him not because I agree with all of the things he does but just because I think he has the most going on with him. Exley is the most moral by far. He seemingly cares fo everyone and just wants there to be justice.
4) I really like it. It is exciting with all of the actions and twists but the characters and relationships have substance to them that make the characters relatable and easier to empathize with. The scene I can’t stop thinking about is when the woman who has been raped confessed to Exley that she had made it so her three other rapist were charged with a murder they didn’t commit. This scene just added another complexity to the story line.
1, Yes he was justified in testifying against his fellow officers. I realize being a "snitch" is a bad thing usually in our society but like officer shannon said, when someone lies or doesnt confess, it puts the whole organization in trouble.
ReplyDelete2, i do not think bud should have shot the rapist. the rapist was not a threat to bud at that exact moment so he could have hand cuffed him or anything else but I do not think his first resource shouldve been to his gun. The man he should shouldve been taken to court and ounished instead of being killed right then and there.
3, I feel most drawn to bud. the reason i feel this way is because bud does his job and is good at getting information from suspects. the only reason i wouldnt like him is because he shot the rapist and made his gun his first resort but otherwise im drawn to him.
4, I like this movie alot. there is alot going on but its packed with intense detail and action. the scene that suck with me was the diner scene with all the dead people. it stuck with me because it shows how a robbery can turn into a mass murder.
1. I definitely think that Exley should have testified against the other officers. If you can’t control yourself with criminals and prisoners then you are not fit to be a cop. Testifying is the right thing to do in his situation, especially when it helps to avoid giving the LAPD a really bad look.
ReplyDelete2. I don’t think he is justified in shooting the rapist. I can see why he might want to or feel the need to, but his actions were wrong and illegal. That man, however bad he may be, has the right to a trial. And even though he was obviously not going to get away with it, he’d still probably choose prison over death.
3. I am drawn mostly to Bud White. He’s a tough man who didn’t have such a great childhood and I think he’s just trying to find a place in the world as a cop. His personality seems to be on full display when he’s talking to Lynn about his childhood. White just seems to have a lot of things go wrong for him. For instance, he has no confidence in his intellectual abilities after having so many people look down on him in saying that he is dumb or brutish. Overall, he seems to just want to be a good police officer, even if his actions might not necessarily be legal. Exley is easily the most moral but I do think that he sometimes lets it get in the way of making the best decisions he can.
4. I really love this movie so far. I like the fact that the plot is fast paced, yet still woven intricately around the lives of the three main protagonists. It’s also nice that while the characters are all good people, they each have their own problems and flaws that make them feel more relatable. The scene with Bud and Lynn talking about his childhood was really cool because of how open he was being, and then how she encouraged him to further pursue the Nite Owl case.
1. Exley should have testified against his fellow police officers, although I do not agree with his motivations behind testifying. It seemed as if Exley’s motive was based around personal gain rather than serving justice. This is problematic and raises questions of whether Exley would have acted in ways morally correct to gain power.
ReplyDelete2. Bud White was not justified in shooting the rapist; however, I understand why he would do so. According to the law, the rapist deserves a fair trial before being sentenced to time in prison or death. That being said, tying up and raping a girl is a completely atrocious act that deserves an incredible punishment.
3. I am most drawn to Bud White because of his need to follow his conscience, no matter the consequences. Although he often does not follow the law, he always does what he believes is right. For instance, he utilizes violence in order to bring people to justice. White definitely has flaws, but his determination to protect people makes him incredibly moral.
4. So far I am enjoying the movie a lot. At times it is difficult for me to follow, but I appreciate the mystery and suspense of the film. A scene that is incredibly memorable is when Bud White goes into the rapist’s apartment and finds a woman tied up and bleeding. As he moves throughout the apartment he finds the rapist watching something on TV and laughing. The stark contrast between the physically and sexually abused woman and the laughing rapist is something I will remember forever.
While testifying got him the lieutenant job, I think it will ultimately be better for his career if he makes friends in the department. A strong sense of justice is a good thing for a cop to have, but not if it’s at the expense of his relationship with his fellow officers.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think he was justified. The rapist didn’t have a weapon and probably could have been arrested easily. I don’t hate him for doing it though. Bud White feels more like a soldier going out and killing people than he does a cop.
I feel most drawn to Vincennes because his story is a little bit lighter. He also talks to Danny Devito a lot and Danny Devito has a funny character that reminds me of Frank from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, probably because they are played by the same actor. I think that Exley is definitely the most moral. He is moral to a fault, and that’s the reason that he rats out on his department.
I like the movie a lot, but I feel like I'm losing part of the experience by taking notes. It feels like I’m trying to read a book and get wrapped up in the story but then i keep having to annotate which breaks my focus. I think the movie is a personal story about how different officers deal with being a policeman than a story about solving a crime. My favorite scene was the one in which Exley, who they established was kind of shy to blood and violence and heavy police work, walks through the crime scene at the nite owl and you see the shock on his face at seeing what’s a part of his job.
1. Yes Exley should have testified against the officers. The officers made huge mistakes for example, getting intoxicated. Exleys job is to get justice.
ReplyDelete2. No bud wasn't justified in shooting the rapist. He wasn't a threat to bud. Killing people isn't a part of the job
3. Exley is the most drawn to character. He takes his work seriously. Also his character appearance quite appealing. His dorky glasses play into the comedy aspect
4.So far in the movie I like what's going. It really makes you feel like you're in the sixties. One moment in the movie is when Exley asked a critical question and that question was what do you do it for. That made more interested in character because that showed how serious Exley takes his work. Which makes me eager to see how his story plays out.
1. I think Exley should have testified against his fellow police officer, although I think his intentions were only in his favor because he wanted his self to look good. Testifying is good though because he shows integrity and it could have affected the whole organization if he didn’t. Also, the officers were in the wrong so they needed to be told on.
ReplyDelete2. No I don’t think he was justified in shooting the rapist because his intentions were to kill him which he did. He could’ve easily shot him in the leg or something if he felt threatened but that wasn’t the case either, so he should’ve just handcuffed him. Also, it was no way of him knowing if that was actually the rapist, so he could’ve killed the wrong guy.
3. I really don’t feel drawn to any of the three because we only watched the first half of the movie. Also, all of them have bad qualities that’s i don’t think I would ever do. If I had to choose, it would be Exley because he actually goes for what he wants. He’s determined.
4. I really like this movie and I think it would be a movie I would watch on my free time. I like the action like during the Nite Owl scene because it was really entertaining to watch.
1. Yes, he definitely should have. Justice is not something that can be reached with slightly faulty methods or white lies. Justice must be obtained by confronting the upfront and real truth of the matter, there is no hiding from it. This is exactly what Exley did.
ReplyDelete2. No, he was not. No matter what awful things a human has committed, they still do not deserve to die. I believe every person, criminal or not, is assumed innocent before a proper trial has taken place. In this case, no trial was taken place, he was shot in cold blood. In my mind, Bud White is only stooping down to the level of the rapist by killing him.
3. I am most drawn to Bud. To be honest, it is mostly because of his theatrical performances and aggressive behavior. It was entertaining to watch him smash people to bits in order to obtain information. This also gave him emotion and passion that I did not read in the other cops. Bud was the only one with a super highlighted character to me.
4. I enjoyed the movie for its entertaining action and somewhat heavy and almost inevitable drama. The scene that stuck with me the most was when Bud White interrogated D.A. Ellis Leow. It stuck to me because of how and extravagant Bud’s interrogation methods where. The most intense part was when Bud was hanging the man out the window, questioning him as he hung a few feet from death.
I do feel like Exley should have testified against his other police officers, because at the end of the day I think it's the right thing to do. As far as Bud goes, I don't know how to feel. I feel like the rapist definitely should have been punished and maybe even sentenced to death, but I was very frustrated that he died instantly without many consequences. He didn't have to see the girls suffer, he didn't have to go to court and try against her, he didn't have to see the pain that she went through and hear her tell her story. He was freed of all of that and I really wish that he wasn't. I didn't particularly feel drawn to any of the three specifically, maybe because I don't relate to the things that they go through every day. But I do think that they all have developed their own character and have their own stories that are each valid and unique. Overall, I do like this movie so far. I think it's really opened up my eyes to how the cinema can capture the things that police officers go through.
ReplyDelete