"To Live and Die in L.A." tells of a T-Man who will stop at nothing to settle a score with a counterfeiter (Dafoe) who murdered his partner. A moody and very Hollywoodish action/drama, this film does little to distinguish itself, save one very good car chase, and plays out like just another cop vs bad guy movie. Petersen is too generic and vanilla and acts like a hyperactive Secret Service agent on meth. Funny money freak Dafoe is too stereotypical and acts like he's trying to be the personification of evil on ludes. The story is flawed with plot holes aplenty and obvious histrionics and the principal protag Petersen is too bad to be good, leaving the audience with no one to root for. Nonetheless, this flick received excellent reviews from critics with Ebert giving it a top four stars. Personally I couldn't remember anything about the film after 20 years, though I have vivid recollections of Friedkin's earlier "French Connection". "Live & Die..." is fodder for TV action junkies but too old to be state-of-the-art and not good enough to be a classic. Watchable but passable. (B-)
Review of To Live and Die in L.A.
