James Ellroy Feels Free to ‘Disparage’ Curtis Hanson’s ‘L.A. Confidential’: ‘It’s Turkey of the Highest Form’

McKinley Franklin
·2 min read
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James Ellroy doesn’t mince words regarding “L.A. Confidential,” the 1997 film adaptation of his fiction-crime novel of the same name. Speaking at this year’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday, the 75-year-old author sat down with fellow crime author Michael Connelly, where he shared his unfiltered thoughts on “L.A. Confidential,” the LAPD and his personal reading taste.

Ellroy, who has voiced issues with director Curtis Hanson’s adaptation before, gave a further explanation of his distaste.

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“People love the movie ‘L.A. Confidential,’” Ellroy said. “I think it’s turkey of the highest form. I think Russell Crowe and Kim Basinger are impotent. The director died, so now I can disparage the movie.”

When it released in 1997, “L.A. Confidential” was both a critical and commercial smash. The film earned $126 million at the global box office, going on to become one of the year’s leading Oscar contenders with nine Academy Award nominations, including wins for best adapted screenplay and Basinger in best supporting actress.

Following Hanson’s death in 2016, Ellroy wrote a tribute in Variety, weighing his relationship with the late director with his mixed opinion on the film, which he deemed “problematic” and ultimately “ emblematic of the Curtis Hanson disjuncture” while admitting to an admiration of its “rush of breathtaking craftsmanship.”

“Curtis was movie-mad. The world outside of films escaped his attention to the same extent that films held him spellbound,” Ellroy wrote at the time. “He mentally catalogued every film he saw and tagged the good ones as learning texts. He was a natural autodidact and a superb film-watcher. He possessed a voyeur’s gaze.”

Ellroy was presented the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement at the L.A. Time Festival of Books, an award presented to writers whose focal point centers in on the American West.

Ellroy also discussed his deep love for American novels and the city of L.A. at the festival — specifically the LAPD, something that seeps its way into his taste in novels.

“I love the LAPD and they kicked my tall skinny [butt] on three notable occasions,” said Ellroy. “I have not stolen so much as a paper clip in 53 years. My relationship with the Los Angeles Police Department is in no way P.C., it’s in no way current, it’s in no way topical. It’s loving. It’s paternal.”

While he referred to himself as “the American [Fyodor] Dostoevsky,” Ellroy admits that he prefers work that focuses on L.A. and the LAPD. “I’ve read almost no work by non-American writers,” he said. “[For my taste,] it’s gotta be Los Angeles, it’s gotta be about my love for the Los Angeles Police Department.”

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