Thoughts on To Live and Die in L.A.

 

via IMDB

"I'm gonna bag Masters, and I don't give a shit how I do it."

Once again, we have a movie that I absolutely had to see at a certain period in time. To Live and Die in L.A., recommendable on its own merits, became downright essential when I thought about America's ongoing re-evaluation of law enforcement. I also considered some of this year's previous entries, like Witness, Code of Silence, Year of the Dragon and Commando. Having gotten used to protagonists, if not heroes, bending the law and manipulating others while ending up justified in the end, I was surprised when rogue Secret Service agent Chance (William Petersen) got his face blown off.

Chance's overzealous behavior in trying to bring down counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe) results in, among other things, a murder site being compromised, an innocent man getting killed and countless drivers having the shit scared out of them. Chance and Vukovich (John Pankow) was not in Gerald Petievich's novel, To Live and Die in L.A. There's some ambiguity over who wrote the screenplay, Petievich or director William Friedkin. Despite this, I'm confident in considering the freeway sequence as Friedkin's triumph. Not only is it amazingly shot and executed, but there's elements like the sound effects editing and the lack of a musical score, which made it all come to life.

I've been dancing around it, but the truth is, I was a little glad when Chance got his. Yes, grief played a role in his actions*, but he's also not above exploiting confidential informant Ruth (Darlanne Fluegel), including likely raping her. There's also his shenanigans involving the deaths of Waxman (Christopher Allport) and Ling (Michael Chong), being a total dumbass regarding Cody (John Turturro) and corrupting Vukovich (Pankow). I don't blame Vukovich at all for considering getting the psycho out of his life, even if salvation was being offered by Grimes (Dean Stockwell). Boy, what's in a name, huh?

*Chance and Vukovich encountering the corpse of Jimmy (Michael Greene) is another achievement for the sound team.

"You have my word you won't have to do the whole nickel."

"What does that mean?"

"Grimes is the best lawyer in the state. It'll either be an appeal bond or a sentence reduction."

"And the check is in the mail, and I love you, and I promise not to come in your mouth ..."

L.A. offers its viewers several access points. There's the conventional story of taking down a skilled bad guy (let's hear it for the authentically made funny money!), the more complicated story of men turning to the dark side, or the shallow but sexy story of whatever's going on among Masters, his girl Bianca (Debra Feuer) and Bianca's fellow dancer** Serena (Jane Leeves). The movie happened to break new ground, with Jimmy not only declaring he's "getting too old for this shit" a few years before Danny Glover, but also dying just before his retirement. And he was going to sail on the Live-4-Ever, too.

**Of all people, the choreographer was future director Lesli Linka Glatter

Some critics have acknowledged the Mann in the room. "At times you may think you're watching an extended, expensive version of Miami Vice," Gene Siskel wrote. "Friedkin may have done the Michael Mann aesthetic better than Mann ever did it," wrote Tom Breihan of the A.V. Club. I think L.A. is that rare beast, a movie that knows when to be excessive. Remember how I mentioned the lack of a musical score during the freeway sequence? That's in perfect contrast to the Wang Chung score elsewhere in the movie, which is of its time period but can also be recommended without a qualifier.

I believe that at some point in everyone's life, they imagine being a law enforcement officer on the trail of something big. The great strength of L.A. is that something understandable is taking place in its own idiosyncratic world. It doesn't offer much of an escape from 2020, but the reflection is something to see.

"I love the rain."

"Yeah, it's groovy."

Recommended.

Thoughts:

-- "A 19th century Cameroon, yes? Your taste is in your ass!"

-- Box Office: Grossing $17.3 million on a $6 million budget, this opened at No. 2 and came in at No. 51 for 1985.

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "Out to make the point that cops and robbers are a breed apart from others but not necessarily from each other," Siskel wrote. "Doesn't leave you alone for a second," according to Paul Attansio. Variety: "Engrossing and diverting enough on a moment-to-moment basis but is overtooled."

-- Critic's Corner, Friedkin: "His glossiest, a great-looking, riveting movie without an iota of warmth or soul," Janet Maslin wrote. "This is his comeback, showing the depth and skill of the early pictures," according to Roger Ebert. The harshest blow came from David Denby: "In the Hollywood of the seventies and eighties, directors don't age very gracefully."

-- Awards Watch: Justifiably, this won Most Spectacular Sequence and Best Vehicular Stunt at the 1986 Stuntman Awards. In the later category, it was up against a future Thoughts On entry, Runaway Train.

-- Memorable Music: The score is 44-42, still favoring songs written for movies. I'm giving L.A. points for its title song and "Wait." I'm not giving a point for the usage of "Dance Hall Days," but I did smile at the blatantly on the nose use of the lyric, "And you need her and she needs you."

-- Hey, It's ...!: Gary Cole.

-- Fanservice Junction: L.A. is another democratic entry in this category. Yes, Feuer and Fluegel show their boobs and Leeves' nipples make a cameo before her lingerie scene, but we've also got bare asses from Petersen, Dafoe and Pankow. And, of course, Petersen's penis.

-- I'm fond of one of Masters' paintings, the one with the redhead and her cleavage. It's probably supposed to be Bianca, but I'm also seeing some Ann Margret there.

-- "Buddy, you're in the wrong place at the wrong time."

-- Next: That Was Then... This Is Now, The Official Story. On deck: Once Bitten, Runaway Train. Coming soon: White Nights.