Cruising (Deluxe Edition)

Cruising (Deluxe Edition) Al Pacino hunts for a serial killer in a lurid world of gay leather bars in Cruising. Because of his resemblance to the victims of a series of slayings, cop Steve Burns (Pacino) goes undercover as a gay man, wandering through wild, gyrating bacchanalias straight out of a Tom of Finland painting, hoping that the killer will be drawn to his dark, tormented eyes. Cruising is a peculiar movie, a gritty police procedural that director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) tried to push into a quasi-metaphysical dimension with some casting tricks and subliminal images. Due to the controversy the movie sparked in the gay community, Friedkin goes to great lengths in the commentary and featurettes to defend the authenticity of the movie’s sources (about a bizarre scene where a muscular black man wearing nothing but a jock strap and a cowboy hat appears out of nowhere and slaps a suspect being interrogated by the police, Friedkin claims this actually happened, though no context is offered). The movie passes no apparent judgment on the overtly sexual scenes in gay bars…yet clearly these scenes are expected to provoke unease in the viewer. Cruising is sure to provoke arguments: Is Pacino’s performance vulnerable or tentative? Is the movie about homophobia or homophobic itself? What does the ending mean? Yet there’s no denying it’s claimed a place in cinematic history; far more people know about it than have seen it. For that–as well as the stylish cinematography–Cruising is worth seeing. –Bret Fetzer
Customer Review: Dark but true
I remember seeing this when it first came out. It was a rather taboo movie because it didn’t hold back on the hard core gay leather life that is incorporated in the movie. Pacino did an excellent job of pulling off what the gay leatherman acted and looked like in the 70’s and early 80’s. The scenes of the clubs are pretty much the way it really was like
Customer Review: A Fury of Fistings
There’s a certain expectation of sensationalism that comes with watching a William Friedkin film - one scene that will have your jaw dropping at the audaciousness of it, and that stays with you long after. Cruising, however, doesn’t.
It’s a well-crafted work, to be sure, and features great performances from supporting players Karen Allen and Paul Sorvino, but ultimately it leaves one with a sense of dissatisfaction. Friedkin here delves deep into New York’s gay underworld of leather bars and kinky sex (he’s not representing it as the whole of the lifestyle, just a subculture), occasionally spicing it up with a murder scene.
It’s really a showcase for the formidable talents of Al Pacino (before the hysteria of his later work)here as an undercover cop investigating the brutal slayings of men who all seem to share the same lifestyle.
It’s not bad Friedkin (like Jade or The Guardian) or brilliant Friedkin (Sorcerer, The French Connection), just very, very, average Friedkin. There’s nothing memorable going on here for his fans, but does get a solid performace from Pacino. Not for all tastes.