Cruising

On one hand, a perfect crime movie, on the other a homophobic, insight into the sleaziness of the gay community of 1980. Some scenes are a little too much (even though it could probably have been even worse), Friedkin is simply a very good director for these sequences not to affect the viewer, but for god’s sake, why did he decide to make something like this? Cruising was clearly a challenge for Pacino and he accepted it with a tenacity of his very own. Thanks to the very well handled ending, my lasting impression of this movie is I suppose positive, but never again. I can’t do this. (09/01/2011)

Cruising is a very strange film. I've seen William Friedkin's The Boys in the Band, from a decade earlier, and it didn’t impress me much. On the one hand, there is the nice and authentic atmosphere of an underworld of gay clubs, but on the other hand, there are many deaf spots and (at least for me) a WTF ending (I really didn't fully understand the ending). I certainly don't want trash this film, but then again, I won't sing any odes to it. In short, a very bold film for its time (actually, somewhere even for today), where the pros and cons balance each other in such a way that it gives a completely average impression. (30/08/2012)