‹ All movies
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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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