LA Confidential (1997)

Storyline

Set in 1950's Los Angeles three very different cops with very different policing styles team up to find out the truth behind a crime. Ed Exley is the golden boy of the force who doesn't mind loosing friends in his battle to get ahead in life. Bud White however is prepared to break all the rules to get justice combined with his violent temper makes his very strong minded. With the addition of Jack Vincennes a man who is after the celebrity status and is always interested in making money. Although Jack's conscience leads him into following Ed's example, leaving Bud to try his own methods to uncover the truth.

The film is technically a Neo Noir with it's modern elements. But with the themes involved and the often bleak settings class it within the Neo Noir genre. 

With all the male characters having a dark murky past and varying ways of handling them makes them all very unique although they all have the same job and are going after the same thing. At the beginning therefore it is hard to tell which one of them will become the main protagonist. But as the story continues it is clear that Bud with his questionable morals will fall and become the anti-hero. Another recognizable Noir trait is in the form of the Femme Fatal who couldn't be more obvious with her odd ways and friendships along with her beauty and development of a firm relationship with one of the three men bringing him into a chain of strange events. 

The film also uses a narrater which has been appreciated as a common Film Noir theme. The narrater is in the form of a writer of Hush-Hush magazine a sleazy Hollywood magazine who seems to be covering the story and relays the information to the audience.

Trailer