Here’s L.A. Confidential’s Rollo Tomassi twist explained. Noir movies weren’t really in vogue in Hollywood during the 1990s, though the genre did offer up some selections. Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes arrived in 1990 but despite Jack Nicholson both starring and directing it failed to reach the acclaim of the original. Miller’s Crossing from the same year was much better received, with the Coen brothers gangster movie still considered one of their finest.
Other notable efforts include Mulholland Falls with Nick Nolte, Denzel Washington’s Devil In A Blue Dress and Bound, the Wachowskis’ directing debut. Dark City from 1998 used the trappings of a noir tale to tell a sci-fi story and has since become a cult favorite. The most prominent noir thriller to emerge from the decade is 1997’s L.A. Confidential. The movie was adapted from James Ellroy’s novel and is set in 1950’s Los Angeles, where three morally grey cops team up to take down corrupt elements within the force.
The late Curtis Hanson directed L.A. Confidential while Guy Pearce (Bloodshot), Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, and Danny DeVito filled out the cast. While the movie’s plot is twisty and complex, it all makes sense when pieced together. The story mostly focuses on Pearce’s Ed Exley, a straight-laced, ambitious detective whose own father was a renowned cop. Exley’s father was murdered and his killer was never caught, so to give this mystery criminal a personality, Exley dubbed him “Rollo Tomassi.”
Exley tells narcotics detective Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) about Rollo in confidence when he’s trying to convince him to dig deeper into the Nite Owl murders. L.A. Confidential takes a real turn when Jack heads to the home of kindly Captain Smith (James Cromwell, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) late at night to update him on what he and Exley have uncovered. Smith responds by shooting Jack in the chest, and as the stunned detective is dying, the Captain asks him if he has last words; Jack responds with “Rollo Tomassi,” and chuckles with small satisfaction at Smith’s confusion as he dies.
Of course, the moment Smith asks Exley about the name following Jack’s murder, Exley immediately knows Smith is corrupt. While Exley is far from squeaky clean, L.A. Confidential makes it clear he wants to be a good cop and became a detective because of Rollo Tomassi. He eventually teams with Bud White (Crowe), and the two mismatched partners discover Smith was attempting to take over a drug empire in the city, and the trail of bodies all lead back to him and his men.
During a final confrontation with Smith, Exley calls him Rollo Tomassi too, because “You’re the guy who gets away with it.” L.A. Confidential ends with Exley shooting Smith in the back instead of arresting him since he knows the department would never let the truth come out. This still works in Exley’s favor, because while he reveals the full extent of Smith’s corruption, he lets them cover it up and label Smith a hero to advance his own career, which is a true noir touch.
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