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To Live and Die in L.A. poster

To Live and Die in L.A.

year 1985decade 80sdirector William Friedkin

116 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

William Petersen Richard Chance
Willem Dafoe Eric Masters
John Pankow John Vukovich
Debra Feuer Bianca Torres
John Turturro Carl Cody
Darlanne Fluegel Ruth Lanier
Dean Stockwell Bob Grimes
Michael Greene Jim Hart
Steve James Jeff Rice
Robert Downey Thomas Bateman
Christopher Allport Max Waxman
Val DeVargas Judge Filo Cedillo
Jack Hoar Jack
Dwier Brown Doctor
Michael Chong Thomas Ling
Jackely Giroux Claudia Leith
Michael Zand Terrorist
Bobby Bass FBI agent
Dar Allen Robinson FBI agent
Katherine M. Louie Ticket agent
Edward Harrell Airport guard
Gilbert Espinoza Ultro's bartender
Shirley J. White Airline passenger
Gerald H. Brownlee Visiting room guard
David M. DuFriend Tower guard
Ruben Garcia Inmate Ruben
Joe Duran Prison guard
Buford McClerkins Prison assailant
Gregg Dandridge Prison assailant
Donny Williams Rice's friend
Earnest Hart Jr. Rice's friend
Thomas F. Duffy Second suspect
Gerry Petievich Special agent
Mark Gash Mark Gash
Pat McGroarty Criminal
Brian Bradley tourist
Jane Leaves Serena

To Live and Die in L.A. | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennessey theme CR Month
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Sasha Jenkins Award for Actor Who You Can’t Believe Didn’t Become a Bigger Star

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:37Read transcript
  • A hottest take argues Petersen was only a few choices from major stardom; reported rejections of Goodfellas, Heat and Platoon are discussed with uncertainty about particular roles and his preference for other work.
  • The Rat Pack, The Contender and CSI are praised as later successes; Petersen’s watchability and pre-existing bond with Pankow are credited for the partnership’s chemistry, and his financial and personal outcome is considered successful.
  • Costner roles such as Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and No Way Out are imagined for Petersen, emphasizing physical presence, sports credibility and sex appeal.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Petersen as a major star; Petersen and Johnson swapping paths; leaner Heat; better than The French Connection

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:37Read transcript
  • A hottest take argues Petersen was only a few choices from major stardom; reported rejections of Goodfellas, Heat and Platoon are discussed with uncertainty about particular roles and his preference for other work.
  • Costner roles such as Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and No Way Out are imagined for Petersen, emphasizing physical presence, sports credibility and sex appeal.
  • A hottest take imagines Petersen and Don Johnson swapping their 1984 career paths, with Costner’s choices as the model of successful movie-star escalation.
  • Other hottest takes describe the film as Heat without supporting-story fat and as better or more rewatchable than The French Connection; the earlier Petersen-stardom take is recalled.

Apex Mountain

Wang Chung; supporting women

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:49Read transcript
  • Wang Chung is proposed as the sponsor-name for Apex Mountain; the story says Friedkin initially prohibited a title song, then loved it enough to build a new opening around it, reflecting trust in collaborators.
  • Apex affirms Wang Chung while preferring Mad About You for Pankow and CSI for Petersen.
  • Secret Service films are compared with In the Line of Fire, the Has Fallen series, The Interpreter, The Sentinel, Along Came a Spider, Guarding Tess, The Bodyguard and Dave; no settled universal peak emerges.
  • Dafoe’s Apex is directed to Platoon or Spider-Man; supporting women are broadly affirmed, Friedkin is rejected, and burning art, bungee jumping and related stunt examples are debated.
  • Apex alternatives include Pulp Fiction for the genital gunshot and GoldenEye for bungee jumping; the Impala and Ferrari receive brief mentions.

The Craig Century Club

About five to ten minutes shorter

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:21Read transcript
  • The 116-minute runtime could lose roughly five to ten minutes, while another joke asks for more Jane Leeves and interpretive dance.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:48Read transcript
  • Ebert awards four stars and praises the chase and Friedkin’s comeback; the panel values the film’s casually conveyed technical knowledge and visual counterfeiting process.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The freeway chase

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:23Read transcript
  • Scene candidates include the terrorist opening, credits, burning art and bridge jump; Petersen’s real jump prompts a proposed lead-actor safety category and discussion of the camera rig.
  • The police-bar scene is enjoyed for its social atmosphere, prompting a personal recollection of a police drinking club.
  • The counterfeiting montage is a scene favorite for music, tactile detail and convincing artistic labor; it was also an initial enjoyment-category candidate.
  • The LAX chase highlights Petersen’s athleticism and reportedly unauthorized filming on the people mover; pre-2001 airport freedom is discussed with qualifications.
  • The attempted prison killing is a scene candidate and suggests a possible extended Turturro prison story.
  • Masters and his henchman beating three attackers and the train-to-abduction-to-chase sequence are praised; the undercover agent’s humiliating death is highlighted.
  • Chance and Cody on opposite sides of a wall supplies a shot candidate; Chance’s sudden death remains shocking, while the studio-demanded alternate ending is condemned and compared with Fatal Attraction.
  • The final coercive visit, Waxman’s murder, the gym meeting and Chance’s threatening treatment of Ruth are additional scene candidates.
  • Chance’s dismissal of Ruth’s expenses, threat to revoke parole and indifference to her child establish his cruelty.
  • The extended chase is the final scene preference, praised for its build, disorienting traffic directions and Petersen’s reckless-character performance.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

LAX access; shoulder radio; gym equipment; airlines; Wang Chung; cash counterfeiting; male nudity

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:38Read transcript
  • Period markers include LAX, a shoulder-carried radio, gym equipment, airline brands, Miami Vice comparisons, Wang Chung, cash counterfeiting and the film’s homoerotic staging and male nudity.

What’s Aged the Best?

Bad sports takes; counterfeiting; amigo; cover identities; artist villains; paper; defense lawyers; retirement trope

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:03Read transcript
  • Realistically terrible sports opinions are an enjoyment choice; Chance’s Quinton Dailey praise prompts questions about his hometown, Steelers jersey and how he learned the game’s outcome after the chase.
  • The Dailey line’s chronology conflicts with the film’s December setting; the panel debates improvisation versus deliberate characterization, connecting the troubling sports preference with Chance’s corruption.
  • The cited Dailey performance is compared with Andrew Toney; the continuing relevance of Middle East conflict is raised as both aged-best and aged-worst.
  • Aged-best choices include the counterfeiting sequence and calling people amigo.
  • The unexplained Dr. George Victor cover identity is enjoyed while its needless complexity is questioned.
  • Aged-best discussion values remnants of the 1960s and implied Vietnam-era backgrounds, Masters as a bisexual artist and his tobacco-spitting enforcer.
  • Aged-best choices include glove-box receipts establishing a cover identity, calling money paper, Dafoe’s villainy and Stockwell’s beer-drinking defense attorney.
  • Stockwell’s career, bungee jumping and Leeves’s screen presence are aged-best topics; insane characters with artistic hobbies are an enjoyment choice compared with The Shining, Hereditary and The Professional.
  • Aged-best choices include villains speaking in third person, leisurely-looking lawyers, Petersen’s reaction instead of the corpse, losing a released witness and the nearly retired partner trope.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Wrong-way traffic; burning painting; bridge jump; post-chase wide shot; Ruth’s lighting; bridge sprint

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:39Read transcript
  • Shot choices include the chase’s windshield view and reversed traffic, burning painting, bridge jump, post-chase wide view, Ruth under green/red bar lighting and the wide bridge sprint; Robert Yeoman is credited with shooting the chase.

The Dennis Peck Relationship Test

Masters, Bianca and Serena’s openness

The panel proposes a new category here.

Flex pick · Chris Ryan

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:12Read transcript
  • Chris’s Dennis Peck relationship test concludes that Masters, Bianca and Serena’s openness would defeat Peck’s usual destructive power.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

The sports take; Pankow’s performance; terrorist opening

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:12Read transcript
  • Weak-link candidates are the Dailey sports take and Pankow’s performance; two participants find the actor insufficiently compelling or dark, while another defends him and his chemistry.
  • The terrorist opening is another weak-link choice because it belongs to a different kind of film and should provoke a bigger response; counterarguments say it establishes Secret Service duties and the partners’ relationship.

Recasting Couch

Melanie Griffith as Bianca; multiple Vukovich alternatives

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:53Read transcript

What’s Aged the Worst?

Police drinking; burning the painting; Friedkin’s agent leaving; deleted reconciliation; bridge association; alternate ending

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:53Read transcript
  • Aged-worst begins with nostalgic portrayals of fun police drinking, challenged as clinically alcoholic behavior.
  • Alternative after-work drinking ensembles include podcasters, emergency-room doctors and NBA assistant coaches.
  • Aged-worst choices include burning the real painting, Friedkin’s agent leaving him and deletion of Vukovich’s reconciliation scene, which might have added depth.
  • The bridge’s later association with Tony Scott’s death is an aged-worst observation; the alternate Alaska ending with a surviving Chance is strongly disliked.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Prop currency; six-week chase shoot; wrong-way inspiration; chase reactions; score timing

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:26Read transcript
  • Research reports a million dollars of deliberately flawed prop currency escaping into circulation, a crew member’s child spending some, and a six-week chase shoot left until last; the wrong-way concept is traced to Friedkin falling asleep while driving in 1963.
  • Pankow’s chase reactions are reported as real and Wang Chung is said to have seen a rough cut before composing.

Cruise or Hanks?

Cruise as Masters

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:47:52Read transcript
  • Cruise as Masters is agreed, imagining a long-haired sinister performance; Scorsese is selected over Spielberg.

Scorsese or Spielberg?

Scorsese

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:47:52Read transcript
  • Cruise as Masters is agreed, imagining a long-haired sinister performance; Scorsese is selected over Spielberg.

Best Hang / Worst Hang

Best: Masters or Chance; worst: Cody

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:48:14Read transcript
  • Best-hang preferences split between Masters’s art-world nightlife and Chance’s sports/bar company; Cody is named worst hang, and the definition is narrowed to one night rather than lasting friendship.

Picking Nits

Room-service cart; roof access; prison phones; traffic reversal; inherited vehicle; compromised investigation; gym form

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:49:35Read transcript
  • The suspicious room-service cart is explained by a supposedly cleared floor, while Hart’s route to the roof remains questioned.
  • Open discussion on prison phones is a nitpick, leading to hypothetical prison podcasts and an unrelated social-media anecdote.
  • Nitpicks question the traffic reversal, Vukovich inheriting the Bronco and Chance committing many crimes to achieve an arrest that would not survive legal scrutiny.
  • Pankow’s disputed performance is revisited, and the gym scene draws late nitpicks about Petersen’s triceps form, cramped spacing and a conspicuous background bodybuilder.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Ruth’s relationships; Malibu home; basketball result; Hart friendship; counterfeiting economics; bodyguard pay; Ruth’s contacts

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:53:36Read transcript
  • Questions ask whether Vukovich also inherits the Malibu home and whether Ruth can have other relationships; her situation is characterized as coercive rather than freely chosen.
  • Questions revisit how Chance learned the basketball result and whether a seven-year friendship is long enough to call Hart his best friend.
  • The counterfeiting business is questioned for expense, danger and limited returns; alternative criminal uses are hypothetical, while Masters’s artistic satisfaction is offered as the more convincing motive.
  • Further questions concern the bodyguard’s compensation and later changes from cash to digital fraud; the latter is contrasted with Masters’s tactile artistic interests.
  • The ending discussion asks whom Ruth was informing; Ruth and Grimes are interpreted as the real manipulators, without resolving every contact.

Just One Oscar

Wang Chung’s song; Robby Müller’s cinematography

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:56:11Read transcript
  • Oscar choices split between Wang Chung’s original song and Robby Müller’s cinematography; the actual song nominees and winner are compared, with the omission criticized.

Best Double Feature

To Live and Die in L.A. poster
To Live and Die in L.A.
Poster unavailable
Manhunter
Poster unavailable
Thief
Poster unavailable
Boiling Point
Poster unavailable
Point Blank
Poster unavailable
Dragged Across Concrete
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 02:02:41Read transcript
  • Double-feature choices begin with Manhunter and Thief.
  • Additional pairings are Boiling Point and Point Blank; Catch Me If You Can is discussed while proposing a possible counterfeiting theme, not as an established episode tag.
  • Dragged Across Concrete is added as a double feature; Caught Stealing, Narc and Rush are considered modern or later comparisons, and a future Rush episode is desired.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 02:03:31Read transcript
  • The first answer is transcribed as freedom; its intended identity is unresolved.
  • Petersen receives an explicit choice.
  • A second explicit answer chooses Petersen.
  • The career-to-CSI rationale leads into a coffee anecdote that is immediately admitted to be invented.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
William Petersen
Speaker not identified
William Petersen

Producer review

Music, atmosphere, heat and craft

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 02:05:15Read transcript
  • Craig gives an enthusiastic first-viewing response, praising the music, city-as-character atmosphere, heat and mix of immediate pleasure with deeper craft.

More from the conversation

The episode is explicitly the third CR Month film after Sicario and Fargo; opening Oscars comments are jokes recorded before release, and downtown filming locations are discussed.
Approx. transcript time · 00:00:01Read transcript
Repeated viewing is celebrated; Friedkin’s stated interest in the thin line between police and criminals is connected with the film’s unusually unredemptive darkness.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:06Read transcript
The film is framed as Friedkin’s comeback after commercial disappointments, returning to The French Connection’s foundations; every major character is morally compromised and Masters may be the most principled.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:25Read transcript
Secret Service procedure, counterfeiting and vanished Los Angeles textures drive the appeal; loud music, the long chase and Jane Leeves prompt viewing anecdotes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:36Read transcript
The film’s perceived Miami Vice resemblance is attributed to unfortunate release timing rather than copying; the alleged litigation is called a myth, and Ebert’s four-star response, $6 million cost and $17 million gross are reported.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:25Read transcript
Similarities with Miami Vice are judged superficial; the film’s dirty, inexpensive world is contrasted with sleek or muscular 1980s action, while timing and lack of stars are proposed reasons for limited reach.
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:41Read transcript
Friedkin’s admiration for Paris, Texas and collaborators’ outsider perspective are credited for the visual world; cinematography, production design, choreography, paintings and tactile equipment-room details reward 4K viewing.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:48Read transcript
The missing poster prompts frustration; fringe industrial and southern Los Angeles locations are praised and contrasted with Beverly Hills Cop, Swingers and Crime 101.
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:14Read transcript
High art applied to low-culture settings is described as a preferred aesthetic, followed by a Jets joke.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:47Read transcript
A failed Fox deal and Petievich’s Secret Service novel are discussed; Friedkin added the terrorist opening and chase, discovered Petersen onstage and captured his impressive physical coordination.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:08Read transcript
Petersen’s athleticism is compared with a rising draft prospect, while the jeans and hot-weather wardrobe receive appreciation and jokes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:31Read transcript
Chance is ranked among extreme rule-breaking cops, with Dennis Peck considered still worse; NYPD Blue and undercover commitment are comparisons.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:10Read transcript
Dafoe’s early range, missed Joker opportunity and later mix of commercial and experimental work are admired, while Speed 2 and Body of Evidence are singled out negatively; Petersen’s darker early roles may have motivated lighter choices.
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:10Read transcript
Masters is defended as relatively principled and artistically demanding, countered by reminders that he counterfeits and murders; the filmed sex sequence’s abrupt cut prompts speculation about ratings limits.
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:58Read transcript
Fluegel’s crime-film career leads to praise for Lockup’s prison football sequence and discussion of finding a future podcast partner for it.
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:02Read transcript
The Nice Guys is announced as the audience-poll winner for the fourth CR Month film, with surprise that The Goonies did not win.
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:10Read transcript
The soundtrack’s fit, multiple opening sequences and music-driven editing are praised; Friedkin’s choices are compared with Tubular Bells and Tangerine Dream, and the opening graphics are celebrated.
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:40Read transcript
The soundtrack is credited with extending Wang Chung’s cultural life; the Duran Duran comparison is corrected by The Bone Temple, while Morrissey is imagined as a very different alternative.
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:00Read transcript
Reportedly approaching Miles Davis is contrasted with the finished score; the Fixx, Howard Jones, Duran Duran, the Cure, Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo are considered but judged less fitting than Wang Chung’s mix of energy and menace.
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:00Read transcript
A grimy-Los-Angeles shortlist includes Den of Thieves, Repo Man, The Terminator, Training Day and The Fast and the Furious; Body Double, Collateral, Chinatown and older noir are discussed with qualifications.
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:08Read transcript
The car-chase Mount Rushmore is Bullitt, The French Connection, this film and Ronin; One Battle is raised as a newer candidate, while the Fast films are distinguished from standalone chase set pieces.
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:35Read transcript
Friedkin’s retrospective concern about dangerous practical chases is discussed, contrasting this controlled freeway shoot with The French Connection; his autobiography and Sorcerer’s revival are praised.
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:17Read transcript
Bourne and Mission: Impossible chases are additional contenders; One Battle’s terrain and camera movement are admired, but Friedkin’s two benchmark chases are considered hard to displace.
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:19Read transcript
Counterfeiting is praised as visual instruction without explanatory dialogue; the panel reports that prop money entered circulation.
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:21Read transcript
A listener reports that the court-building entrance shares the address used before Heat’s bank shootout; the source is a listener email, not independently verified location evidence.
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:05Read transcript
A hypothetical contemporary polyamory drama is proposed; this is a programming idea rather than an episode theme.
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:30Read transcript
A brief NFL trade digression interrupts the category transition.
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:09Read transcript
A television availability discussion detours to American Classic and its cast.
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:16Read transcript
The torn-banknote taxi arrangement in Eyes Wide Shut is discussed as a comparison about cash and incentives.
Approx. transcript time · 02:01:37Read transcript
Masters’s handshake prompts a digression about greetings, hugs and awkward social cues.
Approx. transcript time · 02:04:00Read transcript
A hypothetical buddy-cop story pairs an undercover officer in too deep with a partner who ignores the rules.
Approx. transcript time · 02:07:40Read transcript
The final flashback and Vukovich’s abrupt coercive takeover remain striking; participants prioritize the film’s atmosphere and consistently compelling rooms, including a Miller sign.
Approx. transcript time · 02:09:13Read transcript
The closing confirms CR Month and announces The Nice Guys followed by L.A. Confidential, discusses hypothetical merchandise and thanks Craig, Gahao and Eduardo; spoken name identity still needs official-credit comparison.
Approx. transcript time · 02:10:12Read transcript