The movie Janet Maslin of the New York Times calls:

"Gangbusters! A shrewd, elegant film with a flawless ensemble cast and style to burn"; L.A. Confidential is an epic crime novel that stands as a steel-edged time capsule—Los Angeles in the 1950s, a remarkable era defined in dark shadings.

A horrific mass murder invades the lives of victims and victimizers on both sides of the law—three cops treading quicksand in the middle.

Detective Ed Exley wants glory. Haunted by his father's success as a policeman, he will pay any price, break any law to eclipse him.

Detective Bud White watched his own father murder his mother—he is now bent on random vengeance, a time bomb with a badge.

Celebrity cop Jack Vincennes shakes down movie stars for a scandal magazine. An old secret possesses him—he'll do anything to keep it buried.

Three cops in a spiral, a nightmare that tests loyalty and courage, a nightmare that offers no mercy, allows for no survivors. Here is James Ellroy's masterpiece. . . darkness to haunt you in shades of red, gray, and black.