Inspired by a post about HEAT (1995) got me thinking of TO LIVE IN DIE IN L.A. (1985, directed by William Friedkin), and how the cop/criminal dynamic is similar and yet completely different.

HEAT is built on the idea of getting to know Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and seeing how similar the two are, how dogged, clever and flawed both men are, allowing the audience to empathize with both cop and criminal.

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. has a similar premise (predating HEAT by 10 years), where you get to know Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William Petersen) and counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe), as their feud escalates and leads to tragedy for all involved.

Over the course of the film, we get to understand that Chance and Master are very similar, but unlike Hanna and McCauley, it's their similarities that reveal both of them to be very ruthless, despicable and violent men. You also come to realize that both men basically wear a mask/front that hides who they truly are.

Chance is outgoing and charismatic, the quintessential "Maverick Cop" who will "Get his man", no matter what. He's seemingly the kind of guy you'd enjoy a beer with and talking about sports with. He's good-looking and has a roguish charm to him. However, it's shown over the course of the film that Chance is a rabid "adrenaline junkie" and narcissist, using his partner's death at the hands of Chance as an excuse to indulge in his thrill-seeking and destructive behavior. He abuses his criminal informant, Ruth, both psychologically and physically, as well as treat his new partner, Vukovich, like an annoyance and anchor. Chance gets an FBI undercover agent killed in a botched operation and shows no guilt whatsoever for it, seeing it as just a stumbling block in his quest to destroy Chance.

Masters is intellectual and seemingly quite affable, despite his crimes. He's a passionate artist, using his painting skills to become a master counterfeiter (pun intended). He's also charming and smooth, having the devotion of his girlfriend, Bianca. Underneath this charm and intelligence is a true sociopath, someone ready to murder at a moment's notice. Masters is a man who desires to have total control of a situation, with his rage showing when he begins to lose control. Masters, like Chance, is seemingly also addicted to the pure thrill of what he does, of getting away with it, more than the profit he makes form his crimes.

Ultimately, when both Chance and Masters die, Chance by way of a shotgun blast to the face from one of Master's henchman and Masters by way of being burned alive in a fire he began to destroy the evidence of his counterfeiting in addition to being shot by Vukovich, you see that both men have earned their fates by the way they conducted themselves throughout the film, by the lives they destroyed just to feed their urges/addiction.