Blue Steel (1990)

Blue Steel is an over-the-top police action-psychodrama with a decidedly feminist bent. The film manages to entertain, despite frequent lapses into silliness. Jamie Lee Curtis does excellent work as Megan Turner, a hardnosed rookie cop who resents the way people respond to her chosen line of work. Frequently asked why she decided to join the force, Megan resorts to sarcasm. "Ever since I was a kid," she tells her partner, "I wanted to shoot people." "I like to slam peoples' heads up against walls," she tells an obnoxious prospective suitor. If Megan's performance in the field shows her as courageous, and an excellent shot, her answers to these questions reveal just how brittle she is. Curtis does a good job of portraying both her strength and her underlying vulnerability. Eugene, the unhinged "master of the universe" portrayed by Ron Silver, predates the Patrick Bateman character in American Psycho, and seems to represent the same kind of consumerism gone amok. But Bateman is a far more interesting character. Silver's performance is so two-dimensionally villainous and transparently creepy that it's a wonder Megan doesn't just arrest him the moment she sees him. Then maybe we'd get to find out more about the family and friends he threatens, all played by fine actors, who are essentially treated as props in the film. The film gets very silly at times, particularly during the unnaturally attenuated final showdown between Megan and Eugene, but it's still enjoyable. The film critiques culture's obsession with guns, as the fascinating opening credit sequence lovingly lingers on close-ups of the shiny surface of Megan's service revolver. Writer/director Kathryn Bigelow also manages to make trenchant points about the barriers faced by women working in a predominantly male profession, a subject she is no doubt intimately familiar with. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide