The Movie:

Based on reporter Gerald Walker's novel of the same name, William Friedkin's 1980 thriller Cruising was, and still remains, a controversial and difficult film. It's surprising, considering the rough and explicit subject matter, that a major studio financed the film and it's just as unusual that a mainstream actor like Al Pacino would play the lead - but here it is. The fact that Cruising exists in the first place makes it remarkable.

When the movie begins, a severed arm is found floating in the Hudson River. This puzzles the cops but they're able to ascertain that this is probably the work of the same person who has killed two gay men already. Unsure of who the culprit could be and without any real leads to go on, Captain Edelson (Paul Sorvino) brings in a young and eager cop named Steve Burns (Al Pacino) to go undercover into New York City's homosexual underground to try and lure the killer out - Steve definitely has a resemblance to the two victims, he's the right build, the right height, and has the right complexion and hair color. He'll be completely alone and he'll have to do the job unarmed, but he takes the job, explaining to his girlfriend, Nancy (Karen Allen), that it will put him on the fast track.

Burns assumes the identity of John Forbes and moves into an apartment in the area where the killer has been operating. He befriends one half of the gay couple that live next to him, Ted (Don Scardino), and begins his operation. The deeper he travels into the heavy leather subculture growing around the bars in the meat packing district of the Big Apple, the more he starts to adjust to this way of life but he's still got a job to do and the killer is very definitely still at large.

Those expecting to see Pacino go over the top, Scarface style, might be disappointed that he plays things rather quietly in this film but he does do a pretty good job in the lead even if Steve isn't very well fleshed out. He does a fine job of conveying his apprehension during the early part of the film and in turn, much later in the film, once his character appears to adjust and become more comfortable in his new assumed lifestyle, he effectively portrays that important shift in a subdued and believable manner. Unfortunately, while Pacino is good (with Sorvino turning in some decent acting as well), the script has some very big problems, which hamper his work in the movie in a big way. First off is the fact that for roughly half the film, Burns doesn't really seem to be doing much investigating. One could make the argument that he's trying to explore the lifestyle in order to better fit in or make contacts but what we really see is a lot of Pacino cruising bars like The Ramrod and witnessing some fairly graphic gay sex (most of which comes courtesy of a specific segment of NYC's gay community at the time - Friedkin had actual patrons of many of these real life establishments do their thing while the cameras rolled). While this is certainly unique, it doesn't further the plot all that much nor does it do much to develop Burns' character. Things pick up towards the last half of the film but by that point it starts to feel rushed and with the finale played out as it is, the film leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

The film caused much controversy while it was being made and when it played theatrically. It fell victim to gay rights groups' protests and eventually the film wound up with a studio disclaimer playing in front of it. The sex is pretty graphic, leaving very little to the imagination and playing up the fetish aspects (just watch the 'cop night' scene) and the rough side of the lifestyle (look for the Bruno Kirby look-alike in the fisting scene!). While arguments can be made about whether or not the film is technically homophobic, the picture does portray many of the gay men as philanderers hanging out in parks and grungy bars involving themselves in all manner of unseemly activity. At the same time, Burns does confront his superior officers about forcing a confession out of a gay man who he knows is not the culprit, claiming that he doesn't want to see the guy take the rap just because he's gay. In regards to its social politics, Cruising is just as confused as it is in regards to its very ambiguous ending or its message.

As confusing as the film is in different ways, you can't help but get the impression that Friedkin was trying for something better than what he got. Obviously working with a major studio on a film that deals with this type of subject matter is going to come with a few restrictions and studio/MPAA tinkering coupled with pressure from gay groups had to have had an effect on the final product. There are moments where you can tell the film is really trying to show us how Burns has changed because of his experiences; it just never quite gets there. We see Burns and Nancy in bed together, gentle the first time, then far rougher when he's on sabbatical from his new job. Coincidence? We'll never know, as the film doesn't quite go there, it simply hints at it. Additionally, the killer's motives leave much to the imagination and while that isn't a bad thing if we're given enough to work over our own interpretations, we don't even get that - it all just sort of happens.

That said, Cruising is still worth seeing. Aside from the novelty factor of seeing a young Al Pacino being schooled by a young Powers Booth about the various handkerchief codes and how they relate to golden showers, and hanging out in gay BDSM clubs, the movie does have a few very tense scenes. The first murder is well played and the cinematography does a great job of capturing the seedy, gritty inner city locations where the film was shot. Karen Allen, just before she'd become famous for Raiders Of The Lost Ark is decent as the sympathetic woman in waiting even if her character is fairly shallow and Scardino is quite good as a friendly gay neighbor trying to finish his play while caught in an unhealthy relationship. Joe Spinnell is amazingly vile as the cop with a taste for the wild side and it's fun to spot a young Ed O'Neill (of Married With Children fame as one of the cops). The score, from Jack Nitzsche, is very unusual but it fits the film perfectly, blending in well alongside music from the likes of The Germs and Willy De Ville.

Some viewers may or may not realize that this new 'director's cut' of Cruising does differ from previous versions of the film in a few ways. The original version had no opening credits but it did have a studio disclaimer at the beginning which read:

"This film is not intended as an indictment of the homosexual world. It is set in one small segment of that world which is not meant to be representative of the whole."

This cut now has a horizontal title scrawl to start the film off, the disclaimer is gone. Additionally, the scene where Pacino gets high and starts dancing with another man in the club (roughly fifty minutes into the movie) has had some odd blurring effects put over the top of it (likely an unsuccessful attempt to give this moment a more hallucinatory quality). Some of the club scenes appear to be a little bit longer here than they were on the VHS release and a short scene where the Stuart Richards character's unnamed roommate talks to two police officers after the arrest has been inserted. With the exception of the blurring, which feels very out of place, these changes are fairly minor and don't really hurt anything - sadly the same can't be said about the blurring effect.

Video:

Warner Brothers has given Cruising a 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that preserves the film's original theatrical aspect ratio. Sadly, there has been some very obvious tampering to the color scheme here (or at least to the color scheme seen previously on home video, which is all this reviewer can compare it to)resulting in a film that has a strong bluish tone to it, making Pacino and some of the other performers look like they're wearing stage make up - Pacino literally looks like he's got lipstick on! That issue aside, the transfer is good. There's quite a bit of detail present in the foreground and in the background and while there is a bit of grain present in a few scenes there isn't much in the way of print damage to complain about. The black levels are fairly strong and while a few darker scenes do result in some murkiness, for the most part the night scenes and club scenes look pretty good, which makes the color tampering all the more unfortunate. This doesn't completely ruin the film, as the transfer is otherwise quite good, but if you've seen the movie before you're very likely going to notice the changes.