Confidential is a American neo-noir crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Curtis Hanson. Quartet series. The film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers in , and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity. The title refers to the s scandal magazine Confidential , portrayed in the film as Hush-Hush. One of the film's backers, Peter Dennett, was worried about the lack of established stars in the lead roles, but supported Hanson's casting decisions, and the director had the confidence also to recruit Kevin Spacey , Kim Basinger , and Danny DeVito.
Confidential was a critical and commercial success. Confidential was nominated. In , the Library of Congress selected L. Confidential for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Fame-seeking narcotics sergeant Jack Vincennes collaborates with tabloid journalist Sid Hudgens to perform high-profile celebrity arrests, and volatile officer Wendell White uses violence to interrogate and intimidate suspects, particularly women-abusers, because his father murdered his mother.
They work for Pierce Patchett, a millionaire businessman operating Fleur-de-Lis , a clandestine prostitution ring hosting women surgically altered to resemble film stars. White begins a relationship with Bracken.
Following the " Bloody Christmas " scandalβinvolving drunken officers beating inmatesβExley is promoted to detective lieutenant after persuading his superiors to save the department's reputation by only prosecuting securely pensioned officers. Exley coerces Vincennes to testify, while White refuses to comply and is suspended. White's partner Dick Stensland is fired for his involvement, making other officers hostile towards Exley.
Following the imprisonment of powerful gangster Mickey Cohen , police captain Dudley Smith recruits White to frighten off criminals attempting to take Cohen's place. A spate of murders targeting Cohen's underlings leads to the disappearance of 25 lb 11 kg of his heroin. Exley investigates a massacre at the Nite Owl coffee house, with Stensland and Lefferts among the victims.
