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Cruising

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in San Francisco's S&M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is sent undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer. Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society. While barely seeing his girlfriend Nancy (Karen Allen) anymore, the work starts changing him.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film crime serial killer police undercover gay San Francisco

Persons of interest

Al Pacino .... Steve Burns
Paul Sorvino .... Captain Edelson
Karen Allen .... Nancy Gates
Richard Cox .... Stuart Richards
Don Scardino .... Ted Bailey
Joe Spinell .... Patrolman DiSimone
Jay Acovone .... Skip Lea
Randy Jurgensen .... Detective Lefronskyk
Barton Heyman .... Dr Rifkin
Gene Davis .... DaVinci
Arnaldo Santana .... Loren Lukas
Larry Atlas .... Eric Rossman
Sonny Grosso .... Detective Blaisia
Ed O'Neill .... Detective Schreiber
Michael Aronin .... Detective Davis
William Friedkin .... Screenwriter
William Friedkin .... Director

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Cruise (verb): to seek other men for casual sex.

Speaking of which, I had casual sex last week. I wasn't looking for it but it happened anyway, and very nice it was, too.

But enough about me, onto the film. Cruising is a very scary documentary about hard-core gay men in the 70s. There are big moustaches, big hair and hectares of polyester. The scary part is that even though the hair is now small and the moustaches are goatees not a lot has changed. Leather Queens are still wearing the same studded bandoleers and quasi-military hats, Muscle Queens are still working out in front of the mirror and Beat Queens are still hanging out in public places.

Al's little descent into homo heaven is the graphic representation of hetero hell. Unless they are stopped, the faggots will seduce innocent children into riding the slippery slide of gaydom. After an onslaught of sex and drugs and rock and roll devil music your kiddies will fall into the immoral ways of perverts and other non-Christians. Either that or hitherto heterosexuals will find inside themselves something less rigidly straight than they expected. Are they being converted or are they on a voyage of self-discovery? That depends on whether you're a bigot or an intelligent person.

Al handles the role with all the intensity for which he would later become famous, although Cruising is rarely mentioned on his bio sheets. The eagerness with which the straight cop leaps into the seamy underworld of sexual perversion shows just how silly divisions based upon physical desire are. Even today you can't keep a straight boy out of a frock: just watch The footy show.

The slow pace is both a 70s cultural thing (they really liked films where nothing happened back then) and a deliberate ploy from William. Cruising is a slow glide toward a frantic rendezvous. Cruising is a slow trawl toward a horrific climax. Pun intended. That will put some people off (the pace, not the pun) but if you're a student of contemporary anthropology you'll be glued to the screen. Straight guys will find it the perfect excuse to watch a gay film without anyone thinking they're dodgy: what's more non-dodgy than a serial killer cop film? And you can watch it with your mates if you've got a secret crush on them, too.

Next stop, Get real.

Security censorship classification

R 18+

Surveillance time

97 minutes (1:37 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

VHS retail: 6 August 2001