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Cruising poster

Cruising

year 1980decade 80sdirector William Friedkin

102 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Al Pacino Steve Burns
Paul Sorvino Captain Edelson
Karen Allen Nancy
Richard Cox Stuart Richards
Don Scardino Ted Bailey
Joe Spinell Patrolman DiSimone
Jay Acovone Skip Lee
Gene Davis DaVinci
Randy Jurgensen Detective Lefransky
Barton Heyman Dr. Rifkin
Arnaldo Santana Loren Lukas
Larry Atlas Eric Rossman
Allan Miller Chief of detectives
Sonny Grosso Detective Blasio
Edward O’Neil Detective Schreiber
Michael Aronin Detective Davis
James Remar Gregory Milanese
William Russ Paul Gaines
Mike Starr Patrolman Desher
Steve Inwood Martino Perry
Leland Starnes Jack Richards
Robert Pope DaVinci’s friend
Leo Burmester Water Sport
Bruce Levine Dancer
Charles Dunlap Three Card Monte
Powers Boothe Hankie salesman
James Sutorius Voice of Jack
Carmine Stipo Bartender
James Hayden Cockpit coke man
Todd Winters Tugboat mate

Cruising | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanguest Wesley Morrisproducer Craig Horlbeck theme Naughty November
Explore episodeClose episode

What’s Aged the Best?

Erotic engagement; New York; killer voices; soundtrack; apartments; clubs; Mercedes; police critique; Ted; Remar; costumes; title card

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:00Read transcript
  • The club scenes are praised for erotic engagement and reciprocal looks rather than detached tourism, illustrating cruising through eye contact.
  • The movie captures layered New York nightlife and the descent from ordinary streets into unknown enclosed spaces; it is praised as of a place rather than merely shot there.
  • The killer or killers are creepy, and the conspicuously different dubbed voices can heighten that creepiness despite sounding bad.
  • The gritty mostly punk soundtrack lends legitimacy despite largely unfamiliar songs; it is distinguished from a disco soundtrack and linked to emerging post-punk/no-wave music.
  • Karen Allen’s presence and apartment are appreciated, with real buildings and apartments making the city convincing rather than repeatedly reused sets.
  • Burns removing window-fan slats and the informal rules of apartment leasing feel specifically New York.
  • The clubs feel authentic: Anvil, Ramrod, Wolf’s Den, Cockpit, Eagle’s Nest/Eagle, plus unnamed policeman and American-flag bars.
  • Martino Perry’s Mercedes is admired, including casually parking where a space should not exist.
  • The film’s view of police power and lawlessness remains relevant.
  • Ted’s boy-meets-boy play synopsis, ending with an analyst, is enjoyed.
  • James Remar’s committed performance is praised alongside The Warriors and 48 Hrs.; a neighborhood sighting prompts an anecdote about being too intimidated to approach him.
  • Burns’s wardrobe progresses from khakis and work shirt to makeup and studded leather, visibly tracking exploration that may go unnoticed on a first viewing.
  • The title card is praised alongside the other Naughty November films’ striking title sequences.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Pacino dancing; ending also favored

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:25Read transcript
  • The ambiguous mirror ending and return to the harbor are admired, including the possibility of continuing murders; the editing problems may have helped create its ambiguity.
  • The assignment scene is praised for Burns readily volunteering rather than resisting, with promotion seeming secondary; the captain opens by bluntly asking about sexual experience with men.
  • The dancing sequence is praised as an unusually uninhibited Pacino moment, interpreted as release and a metaphorical sexual experience rather than mere undercover work.
  • The precinct-night rejection is admired for the irony of an actual undercover cop failing to look or act sufficiently like a fetishized cop.
  • Sorvino’s briefing is a scene candidate, using victim photographs that resemble Burns to explain the undercover assignment.
  • The first gay-bar visit and Burns’s tour of the Ramrod and Wolf’s Den establish how fully the film enters this world.
  • Powers Boothe explaining the hanky code is a favorite; Burns promises to think about it and returns with a yellow hanky before being told watching is insufficient.
  • Burns lifting weights after the hanky-code encounter is interpreted as going beyond a purely undercover commitment.
  • The dressmaker murder sequence, including the cinema trip, is praised as a miniature Hitchcock film.
  • Burns telling the captain he cannot handle what is happening is a favorite; the captain’s indifference highlights the lack of concern for him as a person.
  • The yearbook identification of Stuart is enjoyed as hands-on mystery solving.
  • Burns tailing Stuart and confronting him at the park benches is praised as an old-fashioned showdown, despite possible police misconduct.
  • The ending with Karen Allen wearing the clothes is admired for leaving the next encounter unknowable; Burns hearing club music during sex suggests mental distance from his girlfriend.
  • The interrogation is considered terrifying and bracing rather than rewatchable or camp.
  • The nearly naked cowboy-hatted enforcer is interpreted as an S&M embodiment used by police to abuse and coerce suspects.
  • Burns asking why he was hit is a favorite non-dancing Pacino reaction, destabilizing what undercover realism means.
  • Dancing receives repeated final selections, while another preference favors the showdown through hospital and especially the ending.
  • The final shaving and residual cream are interpreted as concealment and a sexual visual metaphor, with agreement on that reading.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

712bar silhouette; boots and magazines; shaving mirror; precinct-night montage

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:45Read transcript
  • Burns’s silhouette entering the 712 bar beneath a bridge, with water behind him, is a cinematic-shot choice.
  • The boots beside wrestling magazines during the first killing are another shot choice.
  • The shaving mirror shot with the girlfriend putting on the clothes is another choice.
  • The precinct-night sexual montage is compared to a moving painting, especially its nightstick image.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Ted; confusing hotel sting

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:12:04Read transcript
  • Karen Allen is spared blame because of cut material; Ted is proposed as the weak link despite his necessary explanatory function.
  • The hotel sting is confusing: Burns protests that backup arrived too early despite being tied up, leaving unclear whether he wanted sex or was waiting for a knife.
  • The police interruption is interpreted as premature ejaculation followed by punishment of the victims; the confusing sequence’s destination is nevertheless appreciated.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Sentence deal; dubbed voices; Franco film; headline; height staging; pickup dialogue

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:53Read transcript
  • The first victim’s wrestling magazines prompt a joking objection to the association with wrestling.
  • The captain’s promise of an eight-year maximum and release in three is questioned, both for leniency and his lack of sentencing authority.
  • The dubbed killer dialogue is a qualified negative, also admired for disorientation and possible use of the father’s voice.
  • Franco’s2013 Interior. Leather Bar. project is criticized as overreach and an unappealing use of money.
  • The project is defended for exploring a straight actor’s unease and producing beautiful, if overly modern, reimagined footage.
  • A newspaper’s anti-gay killer headline is jarring despite being considered period-realistic.
  • The park confrontation conspicuously uses a bench and incline to make Pacino appear as tall as Stuart.
  • The early pickup dialogue about an ostrich feather, a Martian and an ego needing worship is criticized as awkward psychoanalytic writing, despite succeeding within the scene.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Captain cannot play pool; Burns lacks appeal; ideal Cruise vehicle

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:03Read transcript
  • Sorvino’s captain is terrible at pool, repeatedly hitting clusters rather than playing coherently, undermining confidence in him.
  • Burns is considered too tired, unhealthy, scared and unappealing to attract these men; they seem to respond to Pacino’s celebrity rather than the character.
  • Cruising is proposed as an ideal Tom Cruise vehicle, initially around 1993 but with 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut-era curiosity preferred over Jerry Maguire-era Cruise.

Apex Mountain

S&M leather scene in movies

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:46Read transcript
  • Pacino is rejected for Apex here.
  • Sorvino is rejected for Apex here.
  • Remar is rejected for Apex here.
  • Friedkin is rejected for Apex here.
  • Karen Allen is rejected for Apex here.
  • Crisco, nasal spray or poppers, and handkerchiefs are floated without a resolved affirmative choice.
  • The S&M leather scene in movies receives an affirmative Apex judgment; Pulp Fiction’s gimp is considered a more problematic, decontextualized later portrayal.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Untouchable versus expanded series

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:46Read transcript
  • Untouchable is one preference; another favors a six-hour series in 1980 or the present to explore psychological transformation more deeply.
  • Remaking is resisted because the unresolved meanings and period context give the film lasting force, and using an openly gay cop could remove the original ambiguity.
  • A mainstream gay cop unfamiliar with leather culture could still have a journey; provocative star choices include Chris Pratt, a female version with Sigourney Weaver, and Bradley Cooper.

Just One Oscar

Friedkin; Willy DeVille

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:46Read transcript
  • Friedkin receives two agreeing single-Oscar choices.
  • Willy DeVille receives a separate Oscar vote for his song contribution.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Safer career path versus taking a liberating assignment

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:15Read transcript
  • There may be less destructive paths to becoming a detective than abandoning one’s life for this assignment.
  • The competing lesson is to take the job as a route to both advancement and liberation from possible sexual repression; the Catholic-background explanation is expressly hypothetical.