Deliberate mistake: When White almost fights with Exley in the street and is pulled away, the public mailbox by the side of the road is all blue. Mailboxes back then were red on top and blue on the bottom.
La Confidential (1997)
Plot summary
Directed by: Curtis Hanson
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, James Cromwell
L.A. Confidential is set in 1950's Los Angeles is the seedy backdrop for this intricate noir-ish tale of police corruption and Hollywood sleaze. When someone's killing imprisoned mob boss Mickey Cohen's gang. Three very different cops are all after the truth, each in their own style: Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), the golden boy of the police force, willing to do almost anything to get ahead, except sell out; Bud White (Russel Crowe), ready to break the rules to seek justice, but barely able to keep his raging violence under control; and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey), always looking for celebrity and a quick buck until his conscience drives him to join Exley and White down the one-way path to find the truth behind the conspiracy of the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner which may connected to the slayings of Cohen's gang members and maybe a lot more.
More mistakes in La Confidential
Ed Exley: A hooker cut to look like Lana Turner is still a hooker.
Johnny Stampanato: Hey!
Ed Exley: She looks just like Lana Turner.
Jack Vincennes: She is Lana Turner.
Ed Exley: What?
Jack Vincennes: She IS Lana Turner.
Trivia: Kim Basinger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lynn Bracken, even though she's only in the film for 15 minutes.
More questions & answers from La Confidential
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.
Grumpy Scot
The scene was building up tension beyond "Will Ed catch the Night Owl suspect?" Ed has lost his glasses and gets to the elevator as the doors close. He fires blindly into the elevator; for a split second, Ed took a risk: he could've shot an innocent bystander. His career flashes before his eyes. IIRC, it was filmed in a way to imply Ed didn't actually see the suspect get in the doors. The doors open. Ed realises the risk was worth it. This is a pivotal point in his character development.