In the wake of his amazing run of seventies classics, director William Friedkin found himself somewhat adrift in the eighties. The failures of Sorcerer and Cruising had damaged his clout at the box office, culminating in him directing the Chevy Chase movie, Deal of the Century, a film he seemed ill-suited for. Clearly, a comeback was in need, and to that end, he decided to return to the cop genre that put him on the map with The French Connection. The result is one of the best thrillers of the eighties, the stylish and ultra-cool To Live and Die in L.A.