L.A. Heat (film)
L.A. Heat is a 1989 American police thriller directed by Joseph Merhi. It stars Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Detective Jon Chance, a Los Angeles vice cop who dreams of being a cowboy hero and living by a Western code. Jim Brown co-stars, and the story follows Chance as he is assigned to track down a violent drug dealer named Clarence. The case becomes personal when Chance’s partner, Carl, is killed by Clarence during a drug bust. A violent drug war erupts between Clarence and the police, forcing Chance to confront whether his cowboy ideals can survive in the real world.
The film was produced by PM Entertainment on a budget of about $135,000, shot for television release, and runs 85 minutes. It premiered in February 1989 and is in English.
Reception was mixed. TV Guide gave it 2 out of 4 stars, calling it a reasonably entertaining low-budget crime thriller. Variety described it as an okay made-for-video feature, praising Jacobs’s earnest performance but noting rough sound recording.
L.A. Heat led to three sequels, all featuring Jacobs as Jon Chance: Angels of the City (1989), L.A. Vice (1989), and Chance (1990).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:01 (CET).