Roger Ebert
Just one Oscar
Cinematographer Dante Spinotti
Cruise or Hanks
Cruise as Exley.
The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award · 1:40:14
Bill Simmons: One participant cannot find a hot take.
The film is called a perfect modern period piece, combining 1950s design with 1990s acting and cutting.
The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson · 2:18:54
The line contrasting men who get the world with an ex-hooker and an Arizona trip is offered as the lesson.
Selected cast credits · Film reference
In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.
Hansen wanted unfamiliar leads; McConaughey was reportedly considered, but is doubted as Exley. Matt Damon’s Departed role is compared with the part.
Hansen reportedly screened The Bad and the Beautiful, In a Lonely Place, The Lineup, Private Hell 36 and Kiss Me Deadly for the cast.
David Caruso as Jack Vincennes, after Sid is considered
Kim Basinger’s character is endorsed as a strong obvious stay-away candidate.
A $35 million budget; gross unresolved pending a recording check
Bud meeting Lynn, Exley arriving at the Night Owl and removing his glasses for the photo, and Bud visiting Lynn’s house are nominated.
Jack’s dying Rollo Tomasi line is offered as a candidate; another participant reserves a different Spacey line for a flex pick.
College boy as an insult is fondly recalled and compared with more recent political taunts.
The interrogation scene is the shared final choice.
David Strathairn’s brief Patchett performance is flagged as a Dion candidate.
Young Crowe and Spacey on the poster are offered.
Scared characters with puddles of urine are enjoyed, with two examples in this film.
Tabloid culture, outsiders’ difficult LA adjustment and interest in morally complex genre stories remain pertinent.
The layered interrogation reflection with Jack, Dudley, Exley and the waiting suspect
Hollywood Jack, the Big V, Pierce Morehouse Patchett’s initials, Buzz Meeks and Dick Stensland are nominated.
Lynn’s Hancock Park house
Flex pick · Bill Simmons
Roman Holiday plays on the couple’s date; The Bad and the Beautiful appears on the Pantages marquee beside the Frolic Room, linking to an acknowledged influence.
The score is said to draw from Leonard Bernstein’s On the Waterfront music.
Jack asking why Exley wants to dig deeper into the Night Owl killings is the flex selection.
Basinger, reluctantly and without a firm argument
Buscemi and Kevin Pollak are suggested for Sid.
Spacey’s reputation and reported conduct toward Pearce are raised; Ellroy’s shifting opinion of the adaptation is noted.
The mother identifying her daughter, named as Gwenda Deacon
Patchett’s business background prompts the objection that gambling should be part of his criminal operation.
One participant cannot find a hot take.
McConaughey reportedly regretted declining, Crowe was persuaded after refusing, and an Isabella Scorupco offer is explicitly doubted alongside reports Basinger was first choice.
David Strathairn, Ron Rifkin and Matt McCoy are candidates, with Rifkin’s first name corrected from Rob to Ron.
John Mahone is a favored choice as the police chief, with other authority roles cited; Paul Guilfoyle is also mentioned.
Unresolved “Adam”; Dick Stensland and Simon Baker also considered
The Dudley suggestion observed as Apostle/postuate (identity unresolved; may signal villainy too early)
Simple liquor stores, Stensland’s two-liquor punch, and Stompanato’s Schlitz at Formosa
Flex pick · Andy Greenwald
Camera angles reportedly excluded later tall buildings, and Pearce wore a wig for the fight shot months after principal photography.
No affirmative selection
Cruise as Exley.
Scorsese, with interest in Spielberg’s version.
Lynn, Hollywood Jack and Patchett are best-hang choices, with club access and golf among the attractions.
Basinger’s resemblance and acting style are questioned against the more playful Veronica Lake.
A 1974-set sequel with Chadwick Boseman, Crowe and Pearce reportedly failed to happen.
A Zane Lowe impression interviews Dudley about his move into crime, followed by a Matt Reynolds variation.
Cinematographer Dante Spinotti
Exley’s attraction to Lynn is interpreted as possibly involving Bud; removing Inez’s book relationship changes his characterization.
Bud should die heroically
Flex pick · Sean Fennessey
The Night Owl mug; Jack’s tortoiseshell sunglasses; Victory Motel matches (unconfirmed); Rollo Tomasi (not tangible)
Fleur-de-Lis business cards are another subtle recognition item.
The line contrasting men who get the world with an ex-hooker and an Arizona trip is offered as the lesson.
Russell Crowe; the writers
Liked the three leads and story; disliked the film, DeVito, Basinger, and cheesy dialogue
