While BLUE STEEL may look pretty silly today -- a female rookie NYC cop (Jamie Lee Curtis, no less) falls in love with a stockbroker turned serial killer (the always sinister and suave Ron Silver) who is stalking her -- in its time, it was pretty shocking for its R-rated violence and the sickie overtones of the brief love affair between cop and killer. The story starts out plausibly enough: Curtis confronts a robber in a convenience store, blows him to kingdom come, and Silver, a customer, grabs the bad guy's gun, sneaks off, and begins using it on folks at random, with the cop's name engraved on each bullet. Meanwhile, Silver starts courting the unsuspecting Curtis. Pretty soon, though, we fall into the land of implausibility, as Curtis discovers the truth and has several tussles with the very slippery Silver. This all leads to a huge but goofy shootout at the end, and it would appear the film was largely shot in New York City, a plus for any film. Directed by the gal who gave us NEAR DARK, Kathryn Bigelow, I don't think a male director could have given this the same sort of twistiness. But it is still not what you would call a classic, like DEATH WISH or THE FRENCH CONNECTION or BULLITT. If you enjoy bloody shootings, go for it. That's why I watched it again recently. And don't me wrong: I love Jamie Lee in almost anything, but this was not the movie for her. A young Clancy Brown appears as her boss.
Review of Blue Steel
