MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Neo-Noir Action Crime Thriller/Stars: William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro, Darlanne Fluegel, Dean Stockwell, Steve James, Robert Downey Sr., Michael Greene, Jack Hoar, Christopher Allport, Valentin de Vargas, Dwier Brown, Michael Chong, Gerald Petievich, Jane Leeves, Jacqueline Giroux, Dar Robinson, Thomas F. Duffy, Gary Cole/Runtime: 116 minutes
I know I said this already in the review I did for 2011’s Killer Joe last month, but I really do miss William Friedkin dear reader. I mean sure the man was known for being quite difficult to work for and sure he gave the world some movies that I’m sure he’d like to pretend never saw the light of day (1983’s Deal of the Century featuring Chevy Chase of all people as an arms dealer would definitely qualify for this particular category). At the same time though, darn it all dear reader if this distinct cinematic icon didn’t also give movie goers some slices of cinema that were also vastly underrated and deserve to be noticed by a much wider audience than they have been. Yet today I’m not going to be talking about the one from 1980 that had Al Pacino going undercover in NYC’s LGBTQ community to catch a serial killer nor am I going to be talking about the 1994 sports drama that had Nick Nolte and Shaq in it. Instead, I am going to be talking about 1985’s To Live and Die in L.A. A movie that I have not only an immensely high degree of love and respect for, but also more than my fair share of nostalgic memories attached to as well. After all dear reader it’s not often you find a very-much adult slice of cinema like this one after it has accidentally been placed amongst the other VHS tapes at the kids’ hospital where you’re being treated for kidney stones and an 8-year-old version of yourself proceeds to sneakily watch it while eating more than your fair share of ice cream and your mom is asleep in the chair right next to you (sorry Mom!). All joking aside though dear reader, I have no doubt in my mind that there are going to be people, especially those my age and younger, who look at this slice of cinema and either view it as nothing less than a dated cinematic time capsule to the decade in which it was made and initially released or (and even more annoyingly) say “OMG! That was made in 1985! That’s sooooo ancient!”. A pair of responses that, for what it’s worth, really are a shame to hear dear reader. I say that because yes it might have a very solid foundation in the 1980s and yes it might not be for everyone, but I can also promise you there is a significant amount to enjoy here as well regardless of when the film was made. Indeed, with the aid of top-tier work on both sides of the camera, To Live and Die in L.A. is a taut, engaging, and genuinely thrilling slice of cinema that I promise will keep you hooked right from the word go and not let go even when the end credits have finally begun to roll….
The plot is as follows: Based on a 1984 novel of the same name by retired Secret Service agent Gerald Petievich, To Live and Die in L.A. gets its riveting story underway by taking us to (where else?) the city of Los Angeles and introducing us to our main character who takes the shape and form of a guy by the name of Richard Chance. A guy who, among other attributes that are worth knowing about him, is an active and more than slightly morally (if not in other areas) unscrupulous member of a distinct government agency known as the United States Secret Service. It is because of this career incidentally that, when our story gets underway, we see Chance is working to keep then-President Reagan (hey it was the 80s) safe from any potential assassination attempts while he delivers a speech at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. It is also perhaps because of this career that we see our hero, with the aid of long-time partner Jimmy Hart, stop a potential terrorist from getting to the President. At any rate, we see that in the aftermath of this event that Chance and Jimmy are enjoying a beer with their colleagues in the L.A. field office since Jimmy is a couple of days from retirement and plans to spend those days doing something creative. That being that, for an indeterminate period of time prior to the start of the film’s story, the U.S. Secret Service has been investigating an artist by the name of Eric “Rick” Masters. No it’s not because his paintings are a violation of federal law to say nothing of human sight in general. Rather, it’s because Masters happens to have a side hustle that is definitely a no-no in the eyes of the law. That being as a highly skilled counterfeiter of the U.S. dollar. As such, we see that what Jimmy is wanting to do with his remaining days before walking into the sunset for good is to engage in the time-honored law enforcement tradition of staking out a desert warehouse that is believed to be one of Masters’ print houses. Unfortunately for Jimmy, this is not going to be a stakeout that will end well in any way. A fact that is soon solidified when shortly thereafter Chance and the rest of their team raid the warehouse in question and find his body in a dumpster. We soon see that in the aftermath of this that a grieving Chance is approached by another member of the team who was present at the raid by the name of John Vukovich who would like to partner up with Chance to try and bring Masters down. As they begin to zero in on their target however, we soon see that what might have started out as a fairly simple cat and mouse game is about to get a heck of a lot blurrier morally if not legally. As for whether our dynamic duo is able to not only bring their target down, but also do so in a way that is “by the book” that is something I shall leave for you to discover for yourself….
Now, right off it should be noted that the work done behind the camera on this slice of cinema is incredibly well-done. This starts with the work, of course, given to us by William Friedkin at the helm and it manages to be a wonderful blend of bleak, stylish, riveting, and incredibly hard-hitting in that way that only Friedkin and a few others (Scorsese for one) consistently brought or still bring to the table with the majority of their directorial efforts. More than that though, we also see that Friedkin does a masterful job at giving the world of the film a delightful sense of realism through not only having the author of the source material, himself a former Secret Service agent, co-write the screenplay, but also by having real-life counterfeiters aid the movie in making the moments where we see the trade of Rick Masters look as authentic as possible to such an extent that genuine fake money was actually made. Indeed, as a result of these collaborations, we see that Friedkin is able to provide this fictional tale with a degree of authenticity that helps to make the characters and their actions a bit more plausible than other cops and robbers cinematic sagas might have chosen to. Speaking of the screenplay, it should be said that the work done on that by both Friedkin and Gerald Petievich does a masterful job of really presenting these characters to us in a way that feels less like you might expect from a cops and robbers’ saga like this. This is because not only is every single character in this, to some degree or another, sleazy, but you also find yourself really seeing that, despite what side of the law they are on, every character is given the chance to be a three-dimensional human being. As a result, the film is able to do a fantastic job at not only bathing the characters in a significant degree of moral ambiguity, but also ensuring they are presented less like archetypes and more like real people. Of course, the one element that most people remember from this slice of cinema is a phenomenally shot car chase sequence through not only the streets, but also in wrong way traffic on the freeway and even in the basins of downtown L.A. and rightfully so. Indeed not only is this entire sequence nothing less than incredibly shot, but it also (right down to Petersen actually doing the driving and Pankow giving a collection of just as real looks of anxiety-induced terror/panic) does a fantastic job of really showcasing for us as an audience how brilliant Friedkin was at conjuring up riveting and downright taut moments that literally immerse you in the action of the film in question and refusing to really let you go for a single second. This slice of cinema also benefits quite immensely from having Robby Muller at the head of the cinematography department. Yes, the world of L.A. as presented to us in this movie might be unscrupulous and rotten to the core especially in terms of the actions of the characters. Having said that though, there is also no denying that Muller’s work does amazing job at making every bit of it look rivetingly alluring despite the hint of danger that exists seemingly around every corner. With all of that in mind though, perhaps one of the finest components that the work behind the camera has going for it would have to be the work done on this slice of cinema’s soundtrack by the incredible Wang Chung. Indeed not only is the soundtrack incredibly catchy, but it also drenches the entire film with a neo-noir vibe that is incredibly similar to the one Michael Mann would later give us again with his hit TV show Miami Vice. Suffice it to say that the work done behind the camera definitely goes quite a ways toward ensuring that this film works on the incredible level that it is ultimately able to.
Of course, the wonderful work done behind the camera on this film wouldn’t hold nearly as much weight as it does if it wasn’t for the equally as terrific work done by the immensely talented cast of players in front of the camera as well. This starts with, in the lead role of Richard Chance, an incredibly impressive turn here from William Petersen long before he busted bad guys as Grissom on CSI yet only a year before he butted heads with a serial killer as cinema’s first take on FBI Agent Will Graham in 1986’s equally as underrated Manhunter. Yet even though there are some similarities that do exist between the law enforcement trinity Petersen has brought to life, I think that Chance is by far the most hotheaded and willing to bend the rules out of the three (I mean say what you will about Grissom, but I don’t think he had a carnal relationship with one of his C.I.s…at least I don’t think). Along with that though, we see that (much in the same way as other dogged law enforcement officers that would pop up later on in cinema like Vincent Hanna in 1995’s Heat to name one particularly noteworthy example) Petersen showcases beautifully for us that, contrary to his repeated claim that he is doing this to avenge his partner, Chance has other reasons for doing this. Namely that stopping bad guys is not a job to him, but an addiction and only by engaging in the methods that he does to achieving that objective can he truly feel fulfilled in life. Yet while Chance’s penchant for doing whatever it takes to get the bad guy might seem to be a bit over the top in nature, I don’t think that’s a detriment to anyone working on the film let alone Petersen. Rather, I think it is meant to show that law enforcement and the crooks they hunt might be different from the rest of the world, but perhaps not all that dissimilar from each other. Suffice it to say that it is a very nuanced turn and one that Petersen manages to play to perfection. Equally as good as Petersen is the role of the film’s driven and morally scrupulous law enforcement officer is the foil he is hunting in this in the form of the icy Rick Masters who is played absolutely brilliantly by the always great Willem Dafoe. Indeed Dafoe has long been a talent that can play a truly chilling villain and here he does a phenomenal job at playing one who is an equal mix of cold to the bone, ruthless, and slimy, but who also only kills those who interfere with his business. Suffice it to say that it is an early career highlight from a talent who has easily become one of the more underrated of his generation. Rounding out the trio of main powerhouse performances on display is none other than John Pankow (Ira Buchman from Mad About You and Merc Lapidus from Episodes) in the role of Secret Service Agent John Vukovich. Indeed Pankow does a wonderful job at playing an agent who is very much the definition of rule abiding only to, as the movie goes on, find himself going deeper and deeper into this scummy world his new partner is very much a thriving part of before…well I’ll let you see for yourself where he ultimately winds up. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in top flight efforts from such talents as John Turturro, Michael Greene, Robert Downey Sr., Debra Feuer, Darlanne Fluegel, and a scene-stealing performance from the original Quantum Leap’s Dean Stockwell as Dafoe’s crooked yet connected lawyer among others it’s clear that this slice of cinema might have some issues, but the work done by this cast most assuredly does what it can to make up for them.
All in all and at the end of the day I can’t lie to you and say that To Live and Die in L.A. is by any stretch of the imagination a perfect in every way possible slice of cinema. With that in mind though, please do not also expect me to tell you that this slice of cinema is the worst thing to happen to cinema since Willem Dafoe decided Speed 2: Cruise Control was a great career move or William Petersen said yes to a 90s teen thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon called Fear. To be fair, this is one film that is very much a product of the decade in which it was made. Unlike some movies though where that might make the whole affair feel a bit on the dated side, I feel that knowing this slice of cinema is a film from the 80s just helps to make it that much more timeless because when you really stop to think about it they really don’t make movies like this as much nowadays if at all. Suffice it to say then that if you want a movie with plenty of action, but also where you know who the good guys and bad guys clearly are, the narrative is fairly straightforward, and it all wraps up with a frequently preached message about the power of family then I think the movie you are looking for is one of the 11 (and growing) entries in the Fast and Furious saga. On the other hand, if you want a wonderfully over the top action-packed thrill ride where the violence is visceral, the music is hypnotic and catchy in that distinct 80s way, there is plenty of realism to spare, the story is unpredictable, and you are never entirely sure on just who you are supposed to be cheering on then definitely give this slice of cinema a try or two and then come on back here when you’re done. I imagine you and I will have more than a wee bit to discuss. Make of that dear reader what thou will. On a scale of 1-5 I give To Live and Die in L.A. a solid 4 out of 5.
