To Live and Die in L.A.

Goddamn this is a helluva movie.  If the title is so big that the entire thing can’t fit on the screen, uses two different fonts and is in two bright neon colors then you know you have something special.  And while an 80’s cop movie certainly isn’t, the way this one comes together is.

Just to give a quick rundown of the plot, it involves a counterfeiter named Rick Masters played by Willem Dafoe (Speed 2: Cruise Control) and a cop out to nab him named Richard Chance played by William Petersen (Manhunter).  Masters smokes Chance’s partner which kick starts his revenge plot.  But first Chance gets a new partner named John Vukovich (John Pankow (Mad About You)) and the two team up to raise some hell in L.A.  Sounds standard right?  And as far as story goes it is.  But it shares a very interesting blend here of typical action movie principles and raw gritty realism.  That may sound like an oxymoron but man do they make it work.

Probably the biggest action film cliché that this picture has is the ol’ partner getting killed only days before retirement gag and bringing in a new partner that seems to be the opposite of our lead in every way but we soon learn that they’re actually pretty alike.  There are some other standard bits like Chance argues with his superior officer, he wears a leather jacket and jeans (‘cause he’s a tortured rebel), he’ll do whatever it takes to get his man and with names like Chance and Masters you know you’re in some fucking 80’s action movie.

The realism comes in with stuff like they show us how people really counterfeit U.S. bills, cars don’t blow up when they’re shot and things don’t always go according to plan with drastic consequences (can’t really go into it without blowing everything).  There’s also virtually no humor.  Everyone in this piece is deadly serious which keeps you immersed in the picture.  You won’t find any one liners or puns while our hero winks at the camera here.

It’s that blend of 70’s realism like Dog Day Afternoon and those unavoidable yet charming clichés of 80’s action like Lethal Weapon that make this a fascinating and kick ass picture.  It’s got to be William Friedkin’s best movie.  I really think it’s better than The French Connection because while they both share a serious tone this one has more flash and wacky shit that just looks really good and keeps your brain stimulated.  Like there’s a strange night club that has these performers in black and white make up doing some sort of modern dance, when a subtitle comes up to tell you where you are and what time it is the font will be totally different each time and the Wang Chung soundtrack is awesome.  Now I don’t want you to think that I’m a big Wang Chung fan or anything but their music fits so well with the film.  It adds an extra layer of excitement because most of the time it’s up beat and it also functions to lighten the mood just enough so that the film becomes very fun to watch.  This was a nice move because a big orchestral score might have been too heavy for a movie like this and would make it more of a struggle to watch.  I also like that the soundtrack reminds you what era this thing takes place in.  I’m all for timeless cinema but a perfect snapshot works just as well in my opinion.

I don’t think this film is very well known or at least hasn’t been seen by a tremendous amount of people and that’s a shame because it’s up there with the best.  If you want a picture with balls then this is it.  It’ll look you in the eye without cracking a smile or feel guilty about what it is.  It’s a confident movie and that could be read as pretentious but trust me you’ll have such a good time you won’t even care.  The title is a perfect example of what I’m talking about.  Just hearing it makes you think it’s going to be a real dramatic piece of work, almost Shakespearian: To Live and Die in L.A.  But then you get a gander at the poster and notice that the “to”, “and” and “in” are in script and are also much smaller than the other words so it looks more like the title reads “Live Die L.A.”.  See?  Something that sounds like a stuffy biopic on a California native at first suddenly becomes a totally bad ass action title.     

The last thing I’ll mention to try and get you guys to see this piece a.s.a.p. is that it may have the best car chase I’ve ever seen.  Friedkin had a damn good one in The French Connection but topped himself in this.