Cruising (1980)
60%RT Audience Score: 49%
Awards & Nominations: 5 nominations
Cruising glides along confidently thanks to filmmaking craft and Al Pacino’s committed performance, but this hot-button thriller struggles to engage its subject matter sensitively or justify its brutality
Cruising is a movie that’s been around for a while, and it seems like everyone has an opinion on it. Some people think it’s a work of art, while others think it’s ugly and mean. Personally, I think it’s a bit of both. The movie is definitely not for everyone, but if you’re into giallo and want to see a snapshot of queer nightlife in New York City before the AIDS epidemic, then it’s worth checking out. Just be prepared for some laughable loopholes and sluggish, repetitive scenes. Overall, I’d give it a solid 3 out of 5 stars.
Production Company(ies)
Carolco Pictures, Pacific Western Lightstorm Entertainment,
Distributor
United Artists
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Hotel St. James, 109 West 45th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1980
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 46m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 8, 1980 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 18, 2007
Genre(s)
Lgbtq+
Keyword(s)
starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox, Don Scardino, Joe Spinell, directed by William Friedkin, written by William Friedkin, Gerald Walker, LGBTQ+, thriller, New York City, gay clubs, murder, detective, S&M, subculture, homophobia, brutality, psychopath, violence, committed performance, filmmaking craft, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Anton Bitel, Charles Champlin, Bruce McCabe, Roger Ebert, Frank Rich, Dave Kehr, Philip Shehadi, Tom Huhn, Jason Shawhan, Marina Hirsch, MPAA rating R, produced by Jerry Weintraub, United Artists, aspect ratio Flat (1.85:1)
Worldwide gross: $19,814,523
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $74,469,697
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,163
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,121,014
US/Canada gross: $19,784,223
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $11,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $41,341,730
Production budget ranking: 934
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $22,262,522
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $10,865,445
ROI to date (est.): 17%
ROI ranking: 1,308
Paul Sorvino – Capt. Edelson
Karen Allen – Nancy Gates
Richard Cox – Stuart Richards
Don Scardino – Ted Bailey
Joe Spinell – Patrolman DiSimone
Director(s)
William Friedkin
Writer(s)
William Friedkin, Gerald Walker
Producer(s)
Jerry Weintraub
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (58) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (29)
Here Steve’s ‘undercover’ status serves as a metaphor for his closetedness (and vice versa) – while murder is committed at the behest of an internalised paternal voice of authority that regards homosexuality as a guilt that must be bloodily expunged.
August 19, 2019
Anton Bitel
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
The principal complaint, artistically, about Cruising is that it is not very clear at the rudimentary level of exposition of character and event. The problem… is in a script that never seems sure enough what it wants to say or prove.
April 29, 2019
Charles Champlin
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
William Friedkin’s Cruising is a work of art.
April 27, 2018
Bruce McCabe
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
What we’re left with is a movie without the courage to declare itself.
June 9, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
This detective melodrama has something to offend almost everyone.
June 9, 2014
Frank Rich
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
What’s left is the framework for a graphic, brutal, sickening film, without the violent effects that might have made sense (however illegitimate) out of the conception.
June 9, 2014
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
I don’t think it poses the massive threat to gay lives and sanity some writers have anticipated. But Cruising [is] part of a larger picture: its homophobia does not stand alone in the history of American cinema, and that’s where the greatest danger lies.
May 24, 2022
Philip Shehadi
Gay Community News (Boston)
The film is ugly and mean, but art is fundamentally a search for the truth, and when the vision starts to become unpalatable, is it suddenly right for us to complain?
May 12, 2022
Tom Huhn
Washington Blade
At its best, this William Friedkin effort is an American giallo and a document of a community just before HIV/AIDS came along and demolished it.
September 10, 2021
Jason Shawhan
Nashville Scene
…sluggish and disastrously repetitive…
June 12, 2021 | Rating: 2/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Cruising is rife with laughable loopholes.
February 3, 2021
Marina Hirsch
Berkeley Barb
A fascinating entry in Friedkin’s oeuvre that works best when it’s immersed in New York City’s queer nightlife and less so when it gets bogged down in dull police shenanigans.
December 30, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Trace Thurman
Horror Queers Podcast…
Plot
A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York’s S&M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns 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 anymore, the work starts changing him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film stars Al Pacino as Detective Steve Burns.
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