BLUE STEEL

Why would a bright, attractive woman choose to become a cop? “Because I like to shoot people,” says New York City rookie cop Megan Turner. Megan gets her chance when she fatally shoots an armed robber in a grocery store heist, but is suspended from the force when the gunman’s weapon cannot be located.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the .44 magnum in question has fallen into the hands of Eugene Hunt, a rich handsome Wall Street commodities trader who just happens to be a psychotic serial killer. Megan is romantically drawn to Hunt, who is cursed by the psychotic delusion that love and death are one and the same. “Death is the greatest kick of all,” he confides to Megan. “That’s why they save it for last.”

Hunt begins a psycho-sexual courtship of Megan by signing his murders with bullets engraved with her name. The violence is graphic and gory, with literally gallons of blood. If the idea of seeing the killer anoint himself by rubbing his face in a blood-soaked shirt doesn’t turn your stomach, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, pass.

Consider also the exercise in gun worship. In the opening sequence, a revolver becomes an abstract piece of art as the camera’s eye slowly exposes and explores each crevice and curve. The film’s director herself says, “My interest was to sexualize the gun.”

Although the hypnotic visual style is quite artistically executed, the movie, which looks down the barrel of contemporary urban society, makes a sham of the good-triumphs-over-evil premise, since it’s considerably less certain whether content wins out over form. What a shame that the interesting and innovative ways in which objects are shot with light are wasted on a script filled with torrents of murderous raging violence, sexual perversions, and constant profanities and obscenities. BLUE STEEL is totally unedifying and not recommended.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

David Forbes President

MGM/UA Distribution Co.

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