Dr. John A. KingIndigenous Australian. 100% Human. Neo-Noir Novelist. Poet. Speaker. Performance coach. More than a Survivor. Terrible Golfer, Awkward Dancer🕺

Review: L.A. Confidential — James Ellroy

14 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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1:13

In this concise YouTube review, Dr. John A. King rates the film L.A. Confidential somewhere between half brilliant and three‑quarters brilliant, noting it as one of the best examples of noir. He expresses a rare preference for the movie over James Ellroy’s novel, attributing this to the film’s early place in the genre and its pioneering qualities. King highlights the movie’s influence on later noir‑style works such as True Detective, Galveston, and even references the thematic resonance with the Fight Club creator. He recommends the film to anyone interested in writing or appreciating noir, assuring that both genre enthusiasts and newcomers will enjoy it.

Chapters

Right, an oldie and definitely a goodie. LA Confidential, James Ellroy. Uh, like, it's a big old thing. That's a gazillion pages long. All right, rating: brilliant to bollocks movie. This is a hard one, but I'm gonna give it a half brilliant, half to three-quarter brilliant. Now, it's very genre-ish, and you know, it's noir. It's one of the best in its genre. To be honest, it's one of the very Few times where have I preferred the movie over the book. I think because it was so early in the genre and James Ellroy was really a pioneer in it. There's a lot of nuances that have come into it with things like True Detective, Galveston Drive, and those other stories, you know, even, even the Fight Club guy, however the hell you say his name. But I really enjoyed this. But I really, really enjoyed the movie. So if you're wanting to write a noir, at least watch a noir movie, and you've never seen LA Confidential, you'll absolutely like it. So again, I'm gonna give it a half brilliant. If you're into noir, you will love LA Confidential. If you're not, watch the movie because you will love that.