To Live And Die In LA
After more or less inventing the action movie with 1971âs French Connection (and winning an Oscar for it), director William Friedkin literally reinvents the genre in 1985 with this powerful, entertaining, spectacularly original entry about a secret service agent (CSIâs William Petersen) obsessed with bringing down the counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe) who killed his partner right before retirement. Petersenâs Richard Chance is a hotshot daredevil with a suicidal streak, willing to cross every ethical line imaginable to get his prey, and providing an inspiration for Mel Gibsonâs Martin Riggs and every other âloose cannonâ hero to come after, while Dafoeâs Ric Masters is the ultimate puppetmaster, pulling the strings on nearly every character to do his bidding and becoming increasingly fascinated by the insane depths that Chance will stoop to in order to nail him. The pacing, cinematography and editing are all top-notch, and the soundtrack by Wang Chung, while in many ways a product of its time, helps enhance the gritty atmosphere. In other roles, John Pankow brings the right level of desperation as the younger agent partnered with Chance who more and more cannot believe how much further he is being pulled into the abyss; Mickey Rourkeâs ex-wife Debra Feuer as Dafoeâs dancer girlfriend exudes a high level of kink and raw sexuality especially as she embarks on a lesbian relationship with a young Jane Leeves (Frasier); John Turturro as a potential stool pigeon who wonât drop dime on Dafoe despite an attempt on his life brings his usual high level of skill; Darlanne Fluegel as the cute and desperate parolee who works for Chance as an informant is sexy and as an added bonus has a near X-rated sex scene with Petersen; and Dean Stockwell as the shady lawyer who seems to be playing the cops and criminals against each other does some fine, understated work. The script and dialogue contain some good, hardboiled nuggets of wisdom (âYou want bread? Go fuck a baker.â) and then there is the chase scene about halfway through the film, which quite nearly tops the legendary one in Connection (not to mention Steve McQueenâs Bullitt). First-time viewers should be warned that there is a VERY shocking twist near the end of the film that could possibly turn them off on a first viewing (as it did mine), but subsequent rewatches are more than enough to prove that it really was the natural progression that the story was heading in the whole time. All in all, one of the greatest action films ever made, and a must for any fans of film noir as wellâŚ
10/10