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[Help] Question about the movie L.A. Confidential. Spoilers!
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[At the ending, I thought Bud was dead. We never see him until the very end and he and the girl go to Arizona. What happened to him after the fight? Didn't they question him as well?]
They absolutely questioned him and he would have confirmed that he was party to a lot of the under the table tactics that Captain Dudley Smith deployed. The city couldn't ever admit to the public that they had been in effect infiltrated completely by a criminal organisation, or at least corrupted to beyond one.
He was, thankfully, placed on leave which kept him away from the public eye and off he went with his special lady.
[Why doesn't he get a medal?]
Because that would insert Bud White into the public eye and the city want to craft a pleasing story involving their golden boy and don't need a dumb dirty cop like Bud involved.
[And why did Exley thank Bud for the "push"?]
They both crossed into each others realms, Ed Exley was a by the books cop and Bud a cop willing to do what Dudley Smith asked of him. By the end f the movie bud had worked his mind and Ed had worked his muscle in effect. They both recognise that to make it you have to go the extra mile into uncharted territory.
They become a team at the point which they break into Pierce's condo, they second guess what the other is doing and move like partners should.
[Lastly, how does Exley know about the hero scheme to push all the crap under the rug?]
Because he knows exactly how to play them, he knew from his original deal that they need to craft the right narrative and the last thing they need is all of this shit to get splashed all over the papers.
[Exley is smart, he beats the system by becoming the golden child who gets to make all the decisions within the system.]
He games it.
[Any more movies like this?]
I really think LA Confidential is its own beast and there aren't any film like it, but there's plenty of great thrillers that I'd recommend.
To Live and Die in LA.
Animal Kingdom.
Heat.
North by Northwest.
Hardboiled.
The French Connection.
Marathon Man.
Mississippi Burning.
I thought the "Thanks for the push" was Exley literally thanking Bud for pushing him out of the way when Smith appeared at the end.
I think that's the simple answer but yeah he pushed him to embrace a style of policing that isn't by the book.
I always saw that more as Dudley's role—that, in his hubris, he not only pushed the two of them together, but unwittingly pushed both Exley and White individually to rise above what they were.
With White, it's through Smith's blunt and belittling appraisal while underestimating who White is, and with Exley it's overt at first and then hammered home when he rubs his corruption in Exley's face at the end.
I can see what you're saying, because White and Exley complemented each other perfectly, but by the time they team up they're both already pushing out of their mold, and I always saw it more as Smith's doing.
I do agree, I think Smith wanted to push them to serve him but ended up showing them the way to bring about his own downfall.
Yeah there is nothing like LA Confidential. It's it's own mold.
Films in similar vein:
Chinatown
Changeling (in certain aspects)
Black Dahlia (not a patch on LA Confidential, but the same author)
Brick
COME ON! I haven't seen it yet!? Why do they have to make the spoiler tags so juicy and eye popping that I have to click on it. I'M PISSED!
Why haven't you seen this sleeper hit from a one hit wonder director?!
lmao sorry!