Cruising glides along confidently thanks to filmmaking craft and Al Pacino's committed performance, but this hot-button thriller struggles to engage its subject matter sensitively or justify its brutality. Read critic reviews
Cruising
1980, Crime/Drama, 1h 46m
60 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
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Movie Info
A psychopath is scouring New York City gay clubs and viciously slaying homosexuals. Detective Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is ordered to don leather attire, hang at the city's S&M joints and keep an eye out for the killer. But as Steve becomes immersed in club hopping, he begins to identify with the subculture more than he expected. Meanwhile, Steve behaves distantly around his girlfriend, Nancy (Karen Allen), the police force's homophobia becomes apparent and the killer remains at large.
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Rating: R
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Genre: Crime, Drama, Lgbtq+
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Original Language: English
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Director: William Friedkin
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Producer: Jerry Weintraub
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Writer: William Friedkin, Gerald Walker
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Runtime:
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Distributor: United Artists
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Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)
Cast & Crew
Critic Reviews for Cruising
Audience Reviews for Cruising
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I hope one day, however unlikely, we will get to see the original 140 minute cut of the movie as it stands now it is a little too thinly drawn to be a totally effective thriller. That said this just doesn't deserve the scorn it continues to receive and when Friedkin is propelling the plot with his documentary style it can be quite compelling.
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Interesting film -- if for no other reason than to see gay stereotypes from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bold role for Paccino, played convincingly.
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With the 80's explosion of homosexuality in the mainstream, director William Friedkin set out to explore the tension that consumed New York during this time. How a fear of the "other" during this anxious period, so easily manifest itself as hate. Now, what I just described above, is fodder for a great film. Unfortunately, Friedkin's final product "Cruising", isn't that great film. It often forgoes the dark and compelling for the shocking and exploitative. Friedkin seems to lend as much grace and finesse to this subject that he clearly has a cursory knowledge of. Meaning of course, he lends incredibly little.What the viewer gets in essence is a clunky gay horror film in which a hesitant Pacino slowly becomes immersed in a seedy realm of the subversive gay world. It's filmed in such a way that it feels like a gay Rome, replete with an all-consuming plague like hedonism that is meant to appall. I mean, why else would Friedkin go to such lengths to make sure the viewer gets treated a nice long fisting scene? Friedkin cuts together shots of a knife being thrust into a man's back with others of a penis being plunged into a man's butt. It is hard to not feel like Friedkin is grimly equating murder with homosexuality. This is even furthered by a certain scene in which blood is seen spurting, ejaculating, on the screen in a theater that plays gay porn. The acts of these deviants are drenched in the blood of countless men. In fact, Friedkin seems so intent on wanting to shock that he ends up not really saying anything of substance. He really only succeeds in propagating stereotypes, fear, and that if a black man in a cowboy hat and jockstrap walks into a room with you, it would behoove you to walk out. I find Friedkin to be one of the more fascinating figures in American cinematic history. When he hits it, he cranks it out of the park. When he misses, he not only wastes a good opportunity, he also seems to throw his shoulder out in the process. It is no wonder that after a disaster like this, it has been an uphill battle just getting himself back in the game.
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"Cruising" gives me mixed feelings. Friedkin's direction is superb and his entire production reeks of style, but the script is disappointingly weak. The plot is muddled, characters are paper thin, and there are a couple of instances where I had no idea what was going on at all. Also, people complain about the film's frustratingly ambiguous ending. Well, I would have had more of a problem with it if I had cared about the Pacino character at all, which I didn't. Overall, "Cruising" is a decent cop thriller that has that dark and sinister look of films to come like "Se7en," but it is completely forgettable.
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