Curtis Hanson, director of 'LA Confidential', '8 Mile' passes away at the age of 71

Image from Screenrant

By Darian Scalamoni

            It is with our deepest regrets here at Cinema Wave that we report that Oscar-winning screenwriter/director Curtis Hanson passed away yesterday at the age of 71.

            Hanson had an interesting narrative for his own life which began when he dropped out of high school and first getting behind the camera as a photographer. From there, he moved to writing and directing and in 1973, he directed his debut feature, Sweet Kill. Though most of his films in the 70s and 80s were efforts in different forays within genres, it was the 90s in which Hanson hit his peak for creation.

            Within the 90s, Hanson directed major features like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle in 1992 and The River Wild in 1994 in which he directed legendary actress Meryl Streep along with Kevin Bacon and David Strathairn. It wasn’t until 1997, where Hanson directed a film that most would argue is his best feature, LA Confidential. The crime/drama starred Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger and Danny DeVito in a story that took place in 1950s Los Angeles where three policemen investigate a series of murders in their own respective way. The film went on to win 2 Oscars, one for Kim Basinger in a supporting role and the other, Best Adapted Screenplay for which Hanson and his co-writer, Brian Helgeland won. In addition to the two wins, the film was nominated for 7 more Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Hanson’s efforts.

            Though that was surely the height of Hanson’s career, he followed the crime film with two great films, one of them being Wonder Boys, a dramedy starring an ensemble of Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr. and Katie Holmes. The bigger of the two follow up films though would be 8 Mile. The movie in which Hanson took the biggest gamble of his career, letting rap superstar Eminem be the lead in his own life story. The gamble paid off as the film was loved critically and by audiences everywhere. The film also saw Hanson team up yet again with Kim Basinger.

            Hanson’s last film was 2012 sport/drama Chasing Mavericks, a true story about a surfer named Jay Moriarty who enlists the help of local surf legend, Frosty Hesson to train him to survive a massive wave. Hanson was a filmmaker that so effortlessly moved throughout genres and stories, he will truly be missed.