To Live and Die in L.A.

Even though he lost it's easy to see why Michael Mann might have been inclined to sue William Friedkin for ripping off MIAMI VICE, of course we won't take the fact Mann "borrowed" quite a bit from Friedkin himself! That aside, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. is one serious cop film, not the feel good buddy buddy type, no, this is as hard boiled as it comes and after seeing William Petersen here I really think he should tackle a version of MIKE HAMMER or even THE BIG SLEEP. Petersen of course is the main guy on CSI but this marks his first leading role on the big screen (oddly his first wasa bit part in Mann's THIEF just before this!) and what a way to break into the world. Willem Dafoe also gives, surprise surprise, a superb slimeball presentation of the criminal Petersen so desperately wants revenge on. Sharply directed, greatly acted and even though dated as an Eighties piece it still holds up very well.