Blue Steel (1990)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Elizabeth Pena

Primary genre: Action

Secondary genre: Thriller

In the late eighties, films begun to provide meatier roles for female leads. Enter “Blue Steel”, a forgotten byproduct of that era featuring the one and only Jamie Lee Curtis in the role of a recently graduated NYC cop. Interestingly during this cinematic period, women did not hold any action roles unless you count Blaxploitation flicks and Hong Kong classics. Having Curtis’ officer encountering the sexist attitude of men (and women) meant thematically a lot back then (as opposed to the now misguided “wokeism”).

Kathryn Bigelow’s film decries these obvious attempts of misogyny and sexism (which could be based on her experiences as a director herself in a men dominating field) and for all its parochially progressive context, it does not explore such dynamics and quickly devolves into the every-woman-must-have-a-man-in-her-life-to-be-successful trope (!) surrounding the likeable but ultimately one dimension character with formulaic characters (Louise Fletcher does absolutely nothing in this!) and familiar story outcomes that tick every cliché in the genre.

Bigelow’s direction is slick at least showcasing a talent for greater things to come (she shot the cult classic “Point Break” (1991) only a year later) yet for all her skill, she cannot save the film from banal confrontations and typical outcomes. Despite an interesting idea of how exposure to real violence can affect and drive individuals to the edge, the script (co-written by Bigelow) does not really know what to do opting out for unbelievability and melodramatics attempts. Ron Silver’s gradually deranged killer makes no sense hinting pseudotheological fallacies and shady mental illness traits and his efforts to exploit the system due to his wealth and lack of evidence flirt with parody despite the actor’s effort to imbue some humanity into his role.

Curtis is fine but remains as a sex swapped walking law enforcement stereotype. She might be convincing but she deserved a much more fleshed portrayal of a capable but green cop in the chaos of NYC considering there are intriguing figments of a plot somewhere (Curtis’ motives of becoming a cop and her potential exposure on domestic violence is a nice touch). By the time though we reach the finale, there are too many plot holes and conveniences for the audience to enjoy this flick.

“Blue Steel“ might stand out from the rest of the pile by featuring one of the most well known acting offspring as an anti-mainstream hero which retrospectively demands Bigelow’s and Curtis’ commendation. It is a shame though that it involves around a half baked serial killer story with a sex swap of a blunt character.

Clichéd and formulaic thriller

+Ron Silver does his best

+Progressive for the time

+Bigelow’s slick direction

+Curtis is convincing…

-but ultimately one dimensional

-Ideas are never explored

-Formulaic characters

-Cliched and OTT