What is the iRankMovies score for L.A. Confidential?

Name: L.A. Confidential
Director: Curtis Hanson
Genre: crime, mystery, thriller
Released: 1997
Duration: 2 h 18 min
Rating: 8.2

L.A. Confidential has an iRankMovies score of 87.8/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Everything is suspect... Everyone is for sale... And nothing is what it seems.

Release:1997

Runtime:2h 18m

Country:United States

Director:Curtis Hanson

Language:English

Genre

CrimeMysteryThriller

See the best crime movies →

Keywords

corruptionBased On Novel Or BookCall GirlShotgundetectiveFemme FataleDomestic ViolenceWhodunit

iRank88

L.A. Confidential rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8.2/10· 656K votes

Rotten Tomatoes99%

Metacritic91%

TMDb7.8/10· 6K votes

With 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8.2/10 on IMDb and 91/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About L.A. Confidential

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

Cast of L.A. Confidential

Kevin Spacey
as Jack Vincennes
Russell Crowe
as Wendell 'Bud' White
Guy Pearce
as Edmund 'Ed' Exley
James Cromwell
as Dudley Smith
Kim Basinger
as Lynn Bracken
Danny DeVito
as Sid Hudgens
David Strathairn
as Pierce Patchett
Ron Rifkin
as D.A. Ellis Loew
Graham Beckel
as Dick Stensland
Amber Smith
as Susan Lefferts
John Mahon
as Police Chief
Paul Guilfoyle
as Mickey Cohen

L.A. Confidential facts

Budget: $35M
Box office: $126.2M

Our take on L.A. Confidential

Curtis Hanson's 1997 neo-noir threads three very different LAPD detectives through a tangle of corruption, celebrity and murder in glossy 1950s Los Angeles. Intricately plotted and richly cast, it revived classic noir with modern muscle. If its labyrinthine intrigue and moral grey areas gripped you, seek out twisty crime thrillers and period noirs where every clean surface hides something rotten.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Curtis Hanson captures aggressive nineteen-fifty-s Los Angeles with approving noir polish
•Mystery thriller builds tension through admiring procedural investigation sequences
•Based on novel with angry, complex characters driving morally ambiguous crime narrative

What the audience disliked

•Pacing occasionally stutters between investigation and action sequences
•Character development sometimes sacrificed for noir atmosphere and crime plotting