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.