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To Live and Die in L.A. Play Trailer

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0

audience

74

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

Dec 2, 2003

MGM Home Entertainment

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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.

October 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Friedkin plays it as brutal and cynical as he ever did with The French Connection...

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
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On its own terms, it's a considerable success, though it's a film that sacrifices everything in the interests of style.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
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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.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

July 31, 2012 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
7M Pictures

The action thrives on overkill.

March 25, 2011 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A profoundly ambivalent motion picture... completely upends every convention of its hidebound genre without even seeming to notice that it has done so.

February 22, 2011 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy
Antagony & Ecstasy

[William] Friedkin creates a jittery atmosphere of adrenaline and corruption and danger...

February 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Seanax.com
Seanax.com

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.

September 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

William Friedkin returned to form with this tough, stylish and gutsy crime thriller enhanced by one of the great soundtracks of the 1980s.

October 8, 2005
Fantastica Daily

It may have kept my attention only in spurts, but I admit those spurts were remarkably engrossing.

January 31, 2004 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment (1)
Movie Metropolis

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.

January 13, 2004 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comments (2)
Reel Film Reviews

Audience Reviews for To Live and Die in L.A.

'To Live and Die in L.A.' is ultimately something of a snorefest; watch this with even a grain of lethargy and you'll be lost. And that's a shame, because there is much artistic merit to be found in the film. The killer Wang Chung soundtrack compliments stylish sequences throughout, and is especially effective when capturing the Los Angeles landscape. The opening montage is very striking both visually and aurally; the sequence showing Master's counterfeiting procedure is also a pleasure to watch. Sadly though, the first twenty minutes and the closing credits of the film are the most interesting and engaging. Even its stylistic flair becomes tired, Wang Chung being overused and placed in sequences that just don't require it. To Live and Die in L.A. could've been far tauter; it rouses you from your catatonic state only a few times with its surprising gore and of course that famous lengthy car chase.

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.
July 27, 2009
Jack Hawkins
Jack Hawkins

Super Reviewer

I don't throw around the term neo-noir lightly, but this film has the body of your average 80's cop thriller, with the heart and soul of a noir. William Petersen is good here as the hard-boiled and morally ambivalent detective Chance. As for Friedkin, whether he wants to admit it or not, is not a God. But he does know how to craft a compelling film. Although this is not as captivating as the French Connection or the Exorcist, the action scenes are still very impressive and shot with vigor. He takes chances that really elevate the material in a lot of ways.
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.
October 4, 2011
axadntpron
Reid Volk

Super Reviewer

    1. Richard Chance: If you want bread go to a baker.
    – Submitted by John P (8 months ago)
    1. Richard Chance: Guess what? Uncle Sam don't give a shit about your expenses. You want bread, fuck a baker.
    – Submitted by Folashade K (19 months ago)
    1. Eric Masters: You're beautiful.
    – Submitted by Folashade K (19 months ago)
    1. Eric Masters: You're beautiful.
    – Submitted by Brendan D (2 years ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Leben und Sterben in L.A. (DE)
  • Police fédérale, Los Angeles (FR)
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