In 1950s Los Angeles, beneath the glitter of Hollywood beats a police force rotten to its foundations. Three officers of opposite temperaments, the ambitious Exley, the sentimental brute White and the good-time-loving Vincennes, each pull their own thread of a nighttime massacre at a diner. Their investigations converge on a conspiracy that entangles corruption, high-end prostitution and tabloid journalism at the heights of power. Curtis Hanson adapts James Ellroy in a model neo-noir, dense in plot and impeccable in style, that made stars of Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce alongside a memorable ensemble.