Saturday, July 21, 2012

To Live And Die In L.A. - 1986 - 2½ Stars, 4 Stars

Actors:  William Peterson, Willem Dafoe
Director:  William Friedkin

To Live And Die in L.A. almost seems like an antidote to the big, dumb cop film like Commando and Cobra, where might makes right, revenge is a virtue, and body counts are envied instead of feared.  Trouble is, it's just as asinine* as what it might be reacting against.  Typically I'd forgive the director for such a film, but he co-wrote the script.

What is great about this film is the camera and location work - 'L.A.' in this film isn't Woody Allen's montage from Annie Hall, it's more focused on the unglamorous side of the city.  Friedkin also knows how to shoot a car chase.  Thus the two ratings - with a better and more thoughtful script, this could've been a darn good movie.

* The DVD skipped in two places so I missed about seven minutes of the movie - I may have missed some key exposition.  But since almost all the exposition here was stupid, I doubt it.

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