TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. (1985)

SHORT REVIEW: All style and no substance – and the style is tacky, out-dated and doesn’t go with my sofa. This was a great film about twenty years ago. William Peterson is absolutely on fire in this story about Secret Servant agent Richard Chace (Dick Chance?) obsessed trailing of evil counterfeiter Eric Masters (played by Willem DaFoe.) Peterson swings for the fences in this performance and I believe he pulls it off. It could have been easy for him to overplay this nearly psychotic character, but he injects enough humanity to keep the guy relevant. DaFoe is a gifted actor and seethes evil in this film. As the antagonist, DaFoe hits his stride. This has been a constant in his career. DaFoe was born to be the bad guy. I wish he would stick to playing the jerk and stop trying to be nice. The film itself has many things going for it. It offers one of the best car chase sequences on film. With the obvious exceptions of The French Connection and Bullett, the chase scene in this film is stunning even by today’s standards. It was good enough to be ripped off by the makers of Lethal Weapon 3. Mel Gibson wasn’t the first guy to take a car the wrong way down an L.A. highway – William Peterson was. The intrigue the agents get into is complex yet easy to follow. There is some masterful filmmaking going on by William Friedkin in this film. The problem is the style greatly dates the film and becomes distracting. There are some obvious plot devices (the old partner getting bumped off at the beginning) that are also too heavy handed to be effective as well. These faults hinder the film from being able to age well. If you are a fan of William Peterson or Willem DaFoe, this is a good film for you. While the morality of the film is specious and I certainly don’t recommend it on that level, this is still an interesting piece to study. Categories: film, movie review, DVD, William Peterson, Willem DaFoe