What Better Place?

One of the great cock-eyed procedurals has to be William Friedkin's 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A.. Co-written with Friedkin by a former U.S. Secret Service agent, this ranks among the most credible crime movies ever made but also boasts remarkably stylistic cinematography by Robby Muller and a forceful score by Wang Chung.

William Peterson is Richard Chance, an agent whose partner (Michael Greene) goes on a dangerous mission alone, days before retirement, one of the few moments in the film that felt really cliche. But, to be fair, this may have been one of the movies that set that standard.

Afterwards, Chance is driven to bringing down a counterfeit ring headed by a man named Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe). To do so, he poses as a man interested in doing business with Masters and when his boss balks at providing the 60 grand necessary to convince Masters that Chance is a serious investor, Chance contrives to rob another crook for the funds necessary. This detour turns into an amazing car chase sequence that's likely one of the reasons this movie is on a playlist of great stuntwork on Criterion this month.

The detailed twists and turns of Chance's dealings with informants and Masters' dealings with clients always feel remarkably authentic and the dialogue is delivered with terrific performances. Standouts in the supporting cast include John Turturro, Dean Stockwell, and Darlanne Fluegel.