Cruising Movie

Cruising
Rating:
Run Time: 106 min
MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1980
Directors: William Friedkin
Genre/Type: Thriller
Crime Thriller
Urban Drama
Police Detective Film
Producers: Burtt Harris
Jerry Weintraub
Plot Synopsis by Dan Pavlides
New York City detective Steve Burns Al Pacino receives orders from Captain Edelson Paul Sorvino to solve a series of brutal murders in the gay community. Steve scours the gay bars that caters to same-sex sadomasochism in a desperate attempt to solve the crime. As he infiltrates the scene, he slowly comes loose from the moorings of his own reality, and an innocent victim is tortured by the cops in an effort to exact a confession. The story is based on actual murders that took place between 1962 and 1979. The film gained considerable publicity because of the controversial subject matter while censor argued between an X and R rating for the feature.

Back to the top Images of Cruising

Popular Products on Cruising

Videos of Cruising

Back to the top Top Questions about Cruising

This is the term we sailors use to describe the lifestyle of living aboard a sailboat and traveling, by sailing ourselves over the sea, to all parts of the globe. It has nothing to do with being a passenger on a cruise ship! "Cruisers"...
If you answered yes to any of these questions, welcome to the club! Janet and I spent years trying to understand just what it would cost for us to go cruising aboard ‘Charbonneau’. Unfortunately, there wasn’t, and still isn’t, a lot of info...
First of all congratulations. To be completely honest with you at this time you will need a passport for cruising next year. I WORK FOR THE CRUISE LINES. You need to start working on that, it can take many months to get a passport you might...
1 2 3 »

Cast

Actors Character Born
Al Pacino Steve Burns Apr 25, 1940 in New York City, NY
Paul Sorvino Capt. Edelson Apr 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York City, NY
Karen Allen Nancy Oct 5, 1951 in Carrollton, IL
Richard Cox Stuart Richards May 6, 1948 in New York, NY
Don Scardino Ted Bailey Feb 17, 1948 in New York, NY
Joe Spinell Patrolman DiSimone
James Sutorius Jack
Jay Acovone Skip Lee
Randy Jurgensen Detective Lefransky
Barton Heyman Dr. Rifkin Jan 24, 1937 in Washington, D.C.
Gene Davis Da Vinci
Sonny Grosso Detective Blasio
Powers Boothe Hankie Salesman Jun 1, 1949 in Snyder, TX
Michael Aronin Detective Davis
Larry Silvestri
William Russ Paul Gaines Oct 20, 1950 in Portsmouth, VA
1 2 3 »

Back to the topReview

Review by Brian J. Dillard
Although it was greeted with scorn by gay-rights groups and other critics upon its 1980 release, this Al Pacino thriller isn't coherent enough on any front to be viewed as a deliberately anti-gay screed. Less a police procedural than a queasy psychodrama set against the backdrop of New York City's leather scene, Cruising simply doesn't function very well as a mystery. Red herrings are one thing, but writer/director William Friedkin's script is so full of holes, ambiguity, and misdirection that it confounds any sort of literal interpretation. As a gritty fever dream about masculinity and sexual anxiety, however, this dank, dark, unpleasant picture is memorable indeed. His weary, hollowed face bathed in shadows, Pacino navigates the world of gay S & M like it's a perversely fascinating theme park -- one he's uncomfortable admitting that he's grown to love. No greased-up arm, no bobbing head, no desperate tongue kiss is too hyperbolically sleazy to escape the notice of his character -- or the camera. One infamous scene, involving an oversized African-American man in thong underwear and a cowboy hat inexplicably conducting an interrogation, provides only the most obviously over-the-top example of masculinity magnified until it's a parody of itself. Cruising may not be much of a thriller, but it's still a fascinating piece of cinematic voyeurism with an enduringly hard-to-pin-down subtext.
Table of Contents
Plot
Images
Products
Videos
Top Questions
Cast
Review