When Richard Chance's partner, a fellow Secret Service agent, is murdered, darkness descends on pastel-painted LaLaLand. All bets are off as Chance (William “CSI” Petersen) vengefully dogs the days of counterfeiter Rick Masters, portrayed by a well-etched Willem Dafoe. Once again, Friedkin effaces the thin blue line-there's little difference between perpetrator and pursuer except for a badge. Smog-stained sunsets encase the toxic mayhem below in Robby Müller's striking cinematography. It's a SoCal where nothing is what it seems: cons carouse with artsy cool and cops crave kinks. But unlike Masters's fake bills, To Live and Die in L.A. is the real thing.