Set in NY, in the midst of a hot summer, "Cruising" follows a young patrolman in his first undercover assignment, Steve Burns (a fresh-looking Al Pacino), into the S&M underworld of the Big Apple, trying to catch a serial-killer on the loose which is targeting gay men at the West Village bars. Burns resembles a lot those victims in his looks and age group, and he's cruising the bars as a bait for the killer, but alongway during the mission he starts to became affected on a verge of turning himself as deranged as the killer he's after...
Well shot and directed, realistic, raw, crude, disturbing, gritty and defying, a William Friedkin's film during the 70's and 80's never disappointed. Friedkin set an atmosphere of dread, of visual grittiness and nastiness, reaping strong influences from the 'giallo' genre, constructing an ambiguous 'serial-killer on the loose' / crime mystery / neo noir film, in which he also penned the screenplay based on a novel of the same name by Gerald Walker.
The pace is near perfect, Friedkin edited the film in a way that every scene counts and it was made for a viewer to analize, not all the answers are solved at the movie's finale, so even if way grotesque visually, with gusto for the shocking value, Friedkin opted for subtlety in the way the plot unfolds.
Pacino's performance as Steve Burns was the most risquée of his career. He looks uneasy and uncomfortable in almost every frame, partly being in character, partly Pacino's himself reaction to the material given and the on-location filming. That helped a lot his performance as Friedkin would say later. His first choice for the role, a young Richard Gere, was more close to the character's age (Steve Burns was supposed to be less than 30 years old, and Pacino was turning 40 during principal photography) and perhaps, more sordid, cynical and androgynous, conveying the sexual ambiguity of Burns and his near breakdown, but at the end, "Cruising" works very well with Pacino, even with his awkward performance that sometimes, metaphorically, screams: "Get me out of this film".
The supporting cast features a solid Paul Sorvino as Captain Edelson, Burns' superior; an underused, but way young and cute, Karen Allen as Burns' 'girl next door' type of girlfriend, Nancy Gates and Richard Cox as the prime suspect / 'red herring', Stuart Richards. Notable short appearances by several character actors that will made a name for themselves later, including Powers Boothe, Ed O'Neill, James Remar, William Russ, Tobin Bell and Mike Starr. Gene Davis, the future serial-killer from "10 to Midnight" ('83) starring Charles Bronson, delivers a good performance as DaVinci, an informer and "Rocky" ('76) and "Maniac" ('80) character actor, Joe Spinell is always sleazy as the corrupt patrolman, DiSimone. Sonny Grosso, the former New York City police detective and the real life counterpart of Roy Scheider's character in Friedkin's "The French Connection" ('71), appears in a bit part as Detective Blasio.
In short, "Cruising" is a dark and grim, shockingly realistic and wickedly twisted insight into the murder mystery film genre set in this specific underworld of the night clubs scene, shot before the AIDS pandemic, and a step further to its companion, Paul Schrader's "Hardcore", released a year before.
It's one of William Friedkin's favorite films of mine, a diamond in the rough of its 'genre' that inspired a lot of future 'serial-killer' films, including Lucio Fulci's "The New York Ripper" ('82); David Fincher's "Se7en" ('95) or Joel Schumacher's "8MM" ('99), and an attempt to cross the exploitation / grindhouse phenomenon that raised in the 70's, with the 'cinéma d'auteur'.
Well shot and directed, realistic, raw, crude, disturbing, gritty and defying, a William Friedkin's film during the 70's and 80's never disappointed. Friedkin set an atmosphere of dread, of visual grittiness and nastiness, reaping strong influences from the 'giallo' genre, constructing an ambiguous 'serial-killer on the loose' / crime mystery / neo noir film, in which he also penned the screenplay based on a novel of the same name by Gerald Walker.
The pace is near perfect, Friedkin edited the film in a way that every scene counts and it was made for a viewer to analize, not all the answers are solved at the movie's finale, so even if way grotesque visually, with gusto for the shocking value, Friedkin opted for subtlety in the way the plot unfolds.
Pacino's performance as Steve Burns was the most risquée of his career. He looks uneasy and uncomfortable in almost every frame, partly being in character, partly Pacino's himself reaction to the material given and the on-location filming. That helped a lot his performance as Friedkin would say later. His first choice for the role, a young Richard Gere, was more close to the character's age (Steve Burns was supposed to be less than 30 years old, and Pacino was turning 40 during principal photography) and perhaps, more sordid, cynical and androgynous, conveying the sexual ambiguity of Burns and his near breakdown, but at the end, "Cruising" works very well with Pacino, even with his awkward performance that sometimes, metaphorically, screams: "Get me out of this film".
The supporting cast features a solid Paul Sorvino as Captain Edelson, Burns' superior; an underused, but way young and cute, Karen Allen as Burns' 'girl next door' type of girlfriend, Nancy Gates and Richard Cox as the prime suspect / 'red herring', Stuart Richards. Notable short appearances by several character actors that will made a name for themselves later, including Powers Boothe, Ed O'Neill, James Remar, William Russ, Tobin Bell and Mike Starr. Gene Davis, the future serial-killer from "10 to Midnight" ('83) starring Charles Bronson, delivers a good performance as DaVinci, an informer and "Rocky" ('76) and "Maniac" ('80) character actor, Joe Spinell is always sleazy as the corrupt patrolman, DiSimone. Sonny Grosso, the former New York City police detective and the real life counterpart of Roy Scheider's character in Friedkin's "The French Connection" ('71), appears in a bit part as Detective Blasio.
In short, "Cruising" is a dark and grim, shockingly realistic and wickedly twisted insight into the murder mystery film genre set in this specific underworld of the night clubs scene, shot before the AIDS pandemic, and a step further to its companion, Paul Schrader's "Hardcore", released a year before.
It's one of William Friedkin's favorite films of mine, a diamond in the rough of its 'genre' that inspired a lot of future 'serial-killer' films, including Lucio Fulci's "The New York Ripper" ('82); David Fincher's "Se7en" ('95) or Joel Schumacher's "8MM" ('99), and an attempt to cross the exploitation / grindhouse phenomenon that raised in the 70's, with the 'cinéma d'auteur'.