To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) MGM/Action RT: 116 minutes Rated R (language, graphic bloody violence, nudity, strong sexual content, mature themes) Director: William Friedkin Screenplay: William Friedkin and Gerald Petievich Music: Wang Chung Cinematographer: Robby Muller Release date: November 1, 1985 (US) Cast: William L. Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro, Darlanne Fleugel, Dean Stockwell, Steve James, Robert Downey, Michael Greene, Christopher Allport. Box Office: $17.3M (US)
Rating: ****
To Live and Die in L.A. rocks HARD! I don’t know how else to put it. It’s easily one of the ten best action flicks from the 80s. Definitely a product of its era, it has a Miami Vice-like vibe to it with a cool score by Wang Chung and soft-focus cinematography by Robby Muller. The movie has this electrical current flowing throughout its entire 116-minute running time. It even seems to pulsate when the characters stop to talk.
Director William Friedkin makes a long-awaited comeback after critical and commercial flops like Cruising and Deal of the Century. It’s a reminder that he’s the same filmmaker who gave us two quintessential 70s movies- The French Connection and The Exorcist. Welcome back, Mr. Friedkin! We missed you.
Instead of street cops, To Live and Die in L.A. centers on Secret Service agents with the Treasury Department. Known throughout the department for his reckless behavior, Agent Richard Chance (Petersen, Manhunter) vows revenge after master counterfeiter Rick Masters (Dafoe, Streets of Fire) kills his partner/best friend Jim Hart (Greene). He gets assigned a new partner, the young straight-laced John Vukovich (Pankow, A Stranger Among Us). After a botched stakeout, the two agents go undercover as bankers from Palm Springs interested in buying $1M in fake bills from Masters.
Although I usually try not to divulge too much of the plot in my reviews, I would like to mention this one incredible sequence in To Live and Die in L.A. The agents need $30,000 in front money to buy the counterfeit bills from Masters, but that’s three times the amount that they can legally obtain from their office. Chance’s informant/sex partner Ruth (Fluegel, Running Scared) tells him about a shady businessman who’s coming to L.A. to purchase stolen diamonds. He’ll be carrying $50,000 in cash. Chance persuades Vukovich to help him rob the guy, but it turns out he’s an undercover FBI agent. Things, as they tend to do in situations like this, go south and the partners find themselves being chased by the FBI.
In the hands of another director, this might have been standard car chase. Friedkin takes things further and adds an extra element of suspense and excitement. He continues the pursuit by having the Secret Service agents drive the wrong way on the L.A. Freeway. WOW!!! What an impressive sequence! It’s just as awesome as the famous car-train chase in The French Connection.
While To Live and Die in L.A. boasts some incredible action sequences, it plays more like a film noir thriller with its sleazy characters and seedy locations. By the time the closing credits roll, there’s not a single character that can be called a “good guy”. Everybody does something terrible and/or unethical at some point in the picture. Chance will stop at nothing to bring down Masters. He’s willing to violate every procedure in the book to avenge his partner. Even his relationship with Ruth isn’t right; it’s based on extortion. As long as the former prostitute keeps giving him information and sleeping with him, he won’t violate her parole and send her back to prison. In turn, Ruth might have set him up with the information about the shady businessman. It’s just that kind of movie.
To Live and Die in L.A. is populated by some first-rate scumbags like Bob Grimes (Stockwell, Blue Velvet), the attorney who acts as a go-between for Masters and potential clients. Given that he also represents him in legal matters, wouldn’t this be a conflict of interest? Carl Cody (Turturro, The Big Lebowski), a courier busted by Chance early in the movie, agrees to help the agent bring down the counterfeiter after a couple of prisoners make an attempt on his life. All he wants in return is for Chance to take him to visit his daughter in the hospital. Could this possibly be an escape attempt?
Part of the movie’s strength comes from two strong leading performances. Petersen, in his first starring role, shows remarkable skill portraying a complex character like Chance. He’s a character whose whole life is about the next big adrenaline rush. Whether it comes from bungee jumping off a bridge or committing a robbery, he always feels a need to put his life at risk. He has this cool and tough demeanor that reminds me of Steve McQueen.
Dafoe, playing yet another vile character, delivers a brilliant performance. Masters is one scary guy! He sees himself as more of an artist than criminal. He always makes sure his currency looks perfect right down to the minutest detail. He also paints some great pictures which he promptly burns. It’s part of his inner life and he doesn’t want to share it with anybody else.
To Live and Die in L.A. is based on a novel by former Secret Service agent Gerald Petievich which explains why there’s so much detail to various aspects of the plot. At the beginning of the movie, we see exactly how Masters produces his counterfeit money. It’s almost like an instructional film. It’s also an incredibly violent movie. There are a couple of fairly graphic splatter scenes. It’s sort of like a combination of The French Connection, Tom Savini and an MTV music video. It’s a great movie, full of action and interesting characters. It’s an absolute must-see!
