Review of Cruising (1980) by Michael L — 22 Mar 2015
The last review in my trilogy of messed up potential masterpieces, CRUISING never appeared to me as the anti-gay slap so many wanted it to be. In fact, the gayness of the film has little to do with its meaning in my book.
Like TERMINAL STATION and CIAO! MANHATTAN, CRUISING is all about modern day neuroses. More vicious and violent than the other works, CRUISING is a powder keg of a movie about a powder keg of a city at a very mean time.
What I like most about CRUISING is that its fairly explicit S&M scenes are not at all sexy or titillating. No one is having any fun. Everyone is bored... but what the hell... let's add violence to sex.
A very human reaction to a world that does not allow for release or pleasure. Director Friedkin has too much on his mind but he is up so something very interesting. CRUISING is a mess but a mess that has haunted me since I first saw it in Times Square having asked an adult to buy me a ticket.
Kind of appropriate.
This review of Cruising (1980) was written by Michael L on 22 Mar 2015.
Cruising has generally received mixed reviews.
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