To Live and Die in L.A. (Special Edition)
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Features
• AC-3
• Anamorphic
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• Dubbed
• DVD-Video
• Special Edition
• Subtitled
• Widescreen
• NTSC
In Theaters : 01 November, 1985
DVD Release : 02 December, 2003 |
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To Live and Die in L.A. (Special Edition) description
William Friedkin briefly revived his faltering career with this sleek, bleak thriller of a pair of secret service agents on the trail of a counterfeiter. William L. Peterson is the hotshot protégé of a career agent killed by the ruthless, almost feral counterfeiting genius Willem Dafoe (Platoon). Now Petersen, teamed with the smart but still green John Pankow (TV's Mad About You), is ready to twist arms, lean on criminals, steal, and even murder to exact his revenge. The harrowing chase through the streets of Los Angeles that climaxes on the freeway at rush hour, where Friedkin's brilliant twist sends them heading the wrong way, careening through a sea of cars coming straight at them, is still one of the most breathtaking car chases ever filmed. Friedkin's edgy crime thriller, stylishly shot in steely blues against hazy red and orange skies by Robby Muller (Paris, Texas), paints a very thin line between the good guys and the bad guys, and Wang Chung's techno soundtrack sets the proper mood--jumpy and alienated. It's a cynical and very brutal look into the world of law enforcement (adapted by Friedkin and former Secret Service man Gerald Petievich from his novel) and a cold portrayal of the power games between cops and feds, and cops and informants. John Turturro, Dean Stockwell, and Robert Downey Sr. are featured in supporting roles. --Sean Axmaker |
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To Live and Die in L.A. (Special Edition) Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
A mixed bag that is now overrated
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William Friedkin's To Live and Die in LA is a fairly deeply flawed film, contrary to the recent reviews of this film. Yet those flaws don't necessarily make it unwatchable or unenjoyable. These flaws just keep this movie from being what it could have been which is a gritty neo-noir thriller. Instead it's a stiff, occasionally clownish movie with great ideas.
I won't re-hash the plot as that's been done in other reviews with significantly more detail than I would be up for. But the film gets off to a bad start when William Peterson's partner is up for retirement and after fighting a terrorist he actually says "I'm getting too old for this S-." Ebert's Little Movie Glossary isn't working right now, so I can't find the exact name for this cliche, but you know there is one.
Shortly after this, William Peterson--who I'll just call Grissom--begins turning in one of his worst acting performances. You, dear reader, try saying this line out loud: "I'm gonna get Masters 'cuz he killed my partner, amigo." There, you just said it the same way that Grissom did.
But I can't blame Grissom or any of the other fine actors in this film, and To Live and Die is filled to the brim with fine actors. Dean Stockwell and John Turturro both feature prominently and give similarly flat performances--a true rarity, especially for Turturro. Willem Dafoe plays his usual disinterested self, but here he seems disinterested in the dialog. We also know that Grissom was a fine actor around this time because of his excellent performance in Manhunter.
This also stars the shockingly big-headed John Pankow as Vukovitch, Grissom's new not-yet-ready-to-retire partner. You may remember John Pankow as the irritating nebbish friend on the irritating nebbish show Mad About You. Same nervous character here but with hammy dialog. Wow.
There are a few other scenes that are so unartfully done as to distract from the plot. A great example is when Grissom pulls a Captain Morgan/William Riker pose while interviewing stool pigeon Turturro. Or perhaps the John Conaway in Grease move of leaping over a couch to sit with his girl. If I didn't know that Peterson is a great actor I would really have to wonder what his beef is with David "Horatio Cane" Caruso's constant silly posturing. Peterson's just one swipe of the Ray-Bans away.
So what happened? I blame Novel Dialogitis. All the text sounds directly lifted from a book, amigo. As a result, all the actors have the same cliche-ridden tough guy pastiche voice, baby. One scene encapsulates this:
Grissom is pulling a sting on Masters, the counterfeiter baddie. Grissom brings Masters 30 grand in a money belt. After Masters receives it, he says, "Love your work" and laughs maniacally. The others with him join in. Now, in print you can use your imagination to come up with something that seems malevolent. But in a movie this is just weird. Really weird. I had to ask what was so funny? Did I miss something?
Contrasting this is a genuinely interesting story about counterfeiters, cops who are willing to break the law to bring a criminal down, severe judgment lapses, backstabbing, and integrity. Others have written about this as well, so I think it can safely be skipped. But I do want to add that the plot is very lean. Even when it seems that something is extraneous, you learn that it is integral to the very tight storyline.
Wang Chung's soundtrack is a highlight of this film. It occasionally relies too much on contemporary technology which sounds quite dated (care for an Emulator II violin sample? Care for it again? And again?). But there are times where the soundtrack is so good that I wonder why they weren't tapped for more film work.
Finally, I should mention the car chase. It is indeed great, and like all the best car chases, it propels the storyline. Mysteries develop as the chase expertly unfolds. The reveal on these mysteries admittedly prompted a trombone waah-waah in my head, but that didn't take away from the intensity of the chase sequence. Grissom and the human Macy's Day Balloon Pankow both give their best performances in this scene. Probably because they don't talk much. |
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To Live and Die in L.A. (Special Edition) dvd movie.