My Cultural Diet

In this stylish William Friedkin noir thriller, an obsessed Secret Service agent (William Petersen) is willing to do anything to track down and arrest the ruthless counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe) who killed his partner. Put simply, To Live and Die in L.A. is an exercise in style as substance. Friedkin’s directing, Robby Müller’s cinematography, even Wang Chung’s soundtrack, all combine to create a fever dream version of Los Angeles that’s as iconic as it is lurid — a version of the city that can only exist in movies. As for the actual storyline, it often feels quite abstract, far more interested in seeing Petersen swagger across the screen on his way to cross any legal or ethical boundary in pursuit of his quarry, or Dafoe meticulously creating his funny money. Dafoe actually learned how to print counterfeit money for his role, and that sort of attention to detail — as well as an absolutely bonkers car chase in the final act — does help to ground the film’s stylish excess.

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