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06/24/06
Cruising (1980)
59 %
Reviews Counted: 27 Fresh: 16 Rotten:11 Average Rating: 5.3/10
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Synopsis: A sadistic serial killer is targeting New York's gay community and, in response, the NYPD sends rookie cop Steve Burns undercover to find the killer. Burns, who is straight, poses as a homosexual and enters the world of gay S&M sex clubs, learning their rules and mores as he goes along. But as... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox, Don Scardino
Director: William Friedkin
Reviews
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05/24/03
Top Critic
still unsettling even after far more explicit fare has been produced in recent years
10/20/07
A lot of upcoming filmmakers saw "Cruising" and took notes, because the movie became the prototype for every serial killer movie to follow (see "Se7en," "Basic Instinct" etc.).
09/22/07
The film comes off as little more than a sensationalized exploitation flick.
09/21/07
Was it insensitive to make this film when it stood to represent the gay subculture to mainstream America? Yes. Is it a great film? No. But it is a fascinating relic.
09/20/07
Is it offensive? Yes and no. It's insensitive, certainly. And I wouldn't want my mother watching it, lest she think I've been in a sling in the meatpacking district for most of my adult life.
09/18/07
Its gamy images inside the leather and S&M gay bars along the Greenwich Village waterfront are both busy and dark.
09/07/07
'Cruising' views better today than in 1980, but that is relative. There remain bothersome errors in consistency and judgment.
09/06/07
Cruising is a mediocre thriller but an amazing time capsule -- a heady, horny flashback to the last gasp of full-blown sexual abandon, and easily the most graphic depiction of gay sex ever seen in a mainstream movie.
09/04/07
Why Cruising? Why now? And why does it feel like how you answer those questions will determine which side pocket you keep your handkerchief in?
09/03/07
Both on a conceptual level and in practice, Cruising buys into and advances some of the most dangerous myths about homosexuality and the homosexual lifestyle.
09/03/07
The most shocking thing about Cruising (shown in 2007 Cannes Fest), which occupies a unique place in film history, is its thematic and visual audacity, the fact that it was made by a mainstream director (Friedkin) and studio; it will never happen again.
06/18/07
William Friedkin's Cruising is an interesting, albeit grisly, detective story before being damaged by an abrupt, out-of-the-blue and totally unsatisfying ending.
01/26/06
Incoherent, unpleasant, politically problematic, plus one of Al Pacino's most intensely bad performances. Yup. It's a winner.
12/31/05
Related Forums
Watch it, if you can find a copy!
by: zenexpat 11/15/06
by: zenexpat 11/15/06
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Interview: Picking Up on William Friedkin's Cruising
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William Friedkin will forever be remembered as one of the legendary New Hollywood directors of the 1970s. Read on for...
posted by Tom Toro September 14, 2007
William Friedkin will forever be remembered as one of the legendary New Hollywood directors of the 1970s. Read on for...
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• Cruising at Rotten Tomatoes
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