After ace counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe) murders the partner of Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William Petersen), the gumshoe will stop at nothing to even the score. Big problem, though: Masters is, well, a master at the game and outfoxes Chance at every turn. Can Chance outwit him? William Friedkin directs this suspenseful, violent thriller with the City of Angels (a misnomer in this case) as the alluring backdrop.

I believe it is the Los Angeles backdrop that makes this movie work. It was a hoot to relive 1985 again with the music, cars and white pants. Hey where are my white pants and can I still fit in them?

This movie is about revenge and how far the lead character will go to get even. This plot is in many movies however it plays out very differently here. I found the last ten minutes very shocking.

To Live and Die in LA does have a 1980’s Miami Vice feel to it and in reading the trivia found out there was actually a lawsuit against this movie for it. It was tossed out of court and I agree with that decision. Unlike Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice (two guys too cool for school) things do not work out so smoothly for our heroes.

I think actor Willem Dafoe is really good at playing a bad guy. Rick Masters is one of the better villains I have seen in movies. I am giving this one 3.4 stars. It isn’t the best movie ever but worth seeing every 20 years. I did see back in the 80’s and as I said back in the beginning it was fun reliving 1985.

Click here for the Netflix link in case you would like to add it to your queue.

All the best,

Alan
Alan Zibluk
The Internet Guy
Cell: (203) 500-3834
E-mail: al@alzibluk.com