Question: What made Vincennes and Exley think Smith was Rollo Tomasi? Surely it wasn't just because he was a criminal.
MikeH
7th Jun 2016
La Confidential (1997)
3rd Jun 2016
La Confidential (1997)
Stupidity: When White and Exley meet outside the motel and realise they've been set up, White suggests they leave, but Exley says it's too late. It wasn't even close to too late. There were no other people around, they had cars and there was a road right in front of them. Then they decide to go trap themselves inside the motel. It seems like they wanted to be shot.
1st Jun 2016
La Confidential (1997)
Character mistake: White says Exley's father died in the line of duty. Exley said he was off duty when he was shot, and he didn't correct him.
1st Jun 2016
La Confidential (1997)
Question: Smith asks Exley if he'd be wiling to shoot a criminal in the back to prevent a lawyer getting him off. Were the police really allowed to play judge, jury and executioner in the 50s?
29th Mar 2015
La Confidential (1997)
Question: Did Smith really kill Exley's father?
Chosen answer: Possibly. Smith mentions that Exley's father was a straight cop, much to Exley's wish. Smith, being as corrupt as he is, may have killed Exley's father.
Answer: No he did not. Rollo Tomasi was a term only Vincennes knew, so that would lead Exley to conclude that Smith was with Vincennes when he was killed. Rollo Tomasi was also an idea, someone who got away with crime, and that was what Smith was.
16th Mar 2015
La Confidential (1997)
Question: Why did Exley appear so traumatised after killing the man in the elevator? He is, after all, a police officer in homicide, and he killed people before that. Also, did he kill him intentionally?
Chosen answer: A 12g shotgun blast at that range would cause an incredibly bloody death, especially as there is a good chance it hit the man in the face. Exley has killed a person in the line of duty before this, but not in such a spectacular way. And while he may not have meant to kill him he chose to shoot over letting the man escape.
11th Mar 2015
La Confidential (1997)
Continuity mistake: When White shoots Fitch in the chest, at first there's only a little blood around the bullet hole, but in the next shot there's instantly much more blood.
10th Mar 2015
La Confidential (1997)
Revealing mistake: When the two men in the car are shot with machine guns, there's a bump on each of their foreheads even before they're shot in the head. This bump was so it could disappear and reveal the bullet holes when the bullet hits their heads.
25th Feb 2015
La Confidential (1997)
Question: Was the police force in the 50s really that corrupt and brutal?
Chosen answer: Yes.
Answer: Yes indeed. Example: "Bloody Christmas," which takes place in the beginning of the film, was based on a real incident, when on Christmas Day, 1951, some 50 officers, many of them drunk (in violation of the LAPD's alcohol policy), beat six prisoners to a bloody pulp in revenge for an assault on a fellow officer. At least 100 people knew about or witnessed the beatings.
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Chosen answer: As he died, Vincennes mentioned the name "Rollo Tomasi" to Smith because he knew he would follow it up, which would reveal to Exley that he was with with Vincennes when he was killed. Exley did not really think Smith was Tomasi (the purse snatcher who shot his father), but when Smith asked him about the name, he knew he had killed Vincennes. The nickname also fit because Smith had been getting away with his crimes, as "Tomasi" had.
Sierra1 ★