To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 30
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 9,430
My Rating
Movie Info
William Friedkin's crime thriller, based on a book by U.S. Secret Service agent Gerald Petievich, concerns an arrogant Secret Service official who wants to get his man at any price. Willem Dafoe plays Eric Masters, an ultra-smooth counterfeiter who has managed to sidestep the police for years. He is so up-front about his dealings, in fact, that when some undercover agents try to make a deal with him at his health club, Eric tells them, "I've been coming to this gym three times a week for five
Nov 1, 1985 Wide
Dec 2, 2003
MGM Home Entertainment
Cast
-
William L. Petersen
Richard Chance -
Willem Dafoe
Eric Masters -
John Pankow
John Vukovich -
Debra Feuer
Bianca Torres -
John Turturro
Carl Cody -
Darlanne Fluegel
Ruth Lanier -
Dean Stockwell
Bob Grimes -
Steve James
Jeff Rice -
Robert Downey Sr.
Thomas Bateman -
Michael Greene
Jim Hart -
Christopher Allport
Max Waxman -
Jack Hoar
Jack -
Val de Vargas
Judge Filo Cedillo -
Dwier Brown
Doctor -
Michael Chong
Thomas Ling -
Jackelyn Giroux
Claudia Leith -
Anne Betancourt
Nurse -
Brian Bradley
Tourist -
Gregg G. Dandridge
Prison Assailant -
Thomas F. Duffy
Second Agent -
Mark Gash
Himself -
Pat McGroarty
Criminal -
Bobby Bass
FBI Agent -
John Petievich
Agent -
Dar Robinson
FBI Agent -
Michael Zand
Terrorist -
Gerald H. Brownlee
Visiting Room Guard -
Jack Cota
Agent -
Rick Dalton
Agent -
David M. DuFriend
Tower Guard -
Joe Duran
Prison Guard -
Gilbert Espinoza
Utro's bartender -
Ruben Garcia
Inmate Ruben -
Edward Harrell
airport guard -
Earnest Hart Jr.
Rice's Friend -
Richard L. Lane
Agent -
Katherine M. Louie
Ticket Agent -
Bufort L. McClerkins Jr.
prison assailant -
Shirley J. White
Airline Passenger -
Donny Williams
Rice's Friend
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All Critics (30) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (4) | DVD (22)
Engrossing and diverting enough on a moment-to-moment basis but is overtooled.
Top CriticFriedkin plays it as brutal and cynical as he ever did with The French Connection...
On its own terms, it's a considerable success, though it's a film that sacrifices everything in the interests of style.
The film isn't just about cops and robbers, but about two systems of doing business, and how one of the systems finds a way to change itself in order to defeat the other.
The film is cheesy as hell but it is a ton of fun for someone who remembered how this passed as uber-edgy back in the day.
The action thrives on overkill.
A profoundly ambivalent motion picture... completely upends every convention of its hidebound genre without even seeming to notice that it has done so.
[William] Friedkin creates a jittery atmosphere of adrenaline and corruption and danger...
Friedkin's 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A. may be one of his very best, though it did not reach the level of acclaim and support of his earlier films.
William Friedkin returned to form with this tough, stylish and gutsy crime thriller enhanced by one of the great soundtracks of the 1980s.
It may have kept my attention only in spurts, but I admit those spurts were remarkably engrossing.
To Live and Die in L.A. is undeniably very well made - from the performances to the more technical aspects - but the bottom line is, it's just not all that compelling.
Audience Reviews for To Live and Die in L.A.
Super Reviewer
The story is a bit messy and the film is steeped in the 80's aesthetic which unfortunately does not age well. However, it is much better than you would expect of your average thriller.
Super Reviewer
-
- Richard Chance: If you want bread go to a baker.
-
- Richard Chance: Guess what? Uncle Sam don't give a shit about your expenses. You want bread, fuck a baker.
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- Eric Masters: You're beautiful.
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- Eric Masters: You're beautiful.
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Foreign Titles
- Leben und Sterben in L.A. (DE)
- Police fédérale, Los Angeles (FR)
The premise is simply Richard Chance's (William L. Peterson) relentless pursuit of a murderous counterfeiter named Eric Masters (Willem Dafoe) who has killed Chance's partner and 'best friend for seven years'. Chance, his safety hindered in the haze of his own hubris, is prepared to do whatever it takes to put an end to masters, even if it means breaking the law he enforces. Peterson's anti-hero isn't without his clichés: when presented with new partner John Vukovich (John Pankow), the film indulges in the common 'You know I work alone' cliché.
In its entirety, To Live and Die in L.A. is a superficial, viewer-unfriendly production that just doesn't engage it's audience; the characters are flat and the plot is bloated and hard to follow. Its aesthetic redeeming features are seldom found over the course of 1hr 56 minutes, and even if there were more, it wouldn't save this film from its unsubstantiated characters and narrative.