Blue Steel

Jamie Lee Curtis is one of Hollywood's more diverse actresses-- from being heralded the "Scream Queen" for such films as HALLOWEEN and THE FOG, to comedic genius in A FISH CALLED WANDA and TRUE LIES. Her portrayal of a rookie cop who becomes the target of an obsessed stalker (Ron Silver) after her first assignment on the force solidifies her acting abilities and film repertoire. Ron Silver plays the Wall-Street-broker-turned-psychopath flawlessly.

BLUE STEEL is a cop flick with a twist which, unlike many films in the genre, showcases a lead female's descent through the police force. Amir M. Mokri's encompassing and somber cinematography, Brad Fiedel's ambient and chilling musical score, and Kathryn Bigelow's cool, detached direction, combined with the excellent cast which also includes Louise Fletcher, Clancy Brown, and Elizabeth Peña, makes for a unique, entertaining, and esthetically pleasing film!

This cast contributed everything they had to this work, the story line is awesome, and the execution is purely entertaining. So what went wrong? As slick as this stylish detective/thriller is, it lacks an ending which denotes the wit and keen intellect throughout. In other words, the ending was weak enough to throw off this whole work.

Jamie Lee Curtis, nor any of her cast mates represents the problem. The problem was in the writing, however, this is still quite compelling, and dramatizes an interesting story, which has the ability to pull you in and build some awesome suspense.

All in all, although it fails to deliver satisfactorily in the end, the process getting you there is quite entertaining.

It rates a 6.8/10 from...

the Fiend :.

"Blue Steel" features a solid pe4rformance from Jamie Lee Curtis and the stylish direction you've come to expect from Kathryn Bigelow, but its story about a crazy serial killer preying on a rookie officer is predicated on some sketchy writing. So, Curtis is the tough lady cop who foils a grocery robbery, and Ron Silver the bystander who witnesses the shooting and (by the way) pockets the robber's gun. None of the witnesses come to Curtis' support that she fired in self-defense? From the outset, she's on the defensive from everybody, including her own brothers in blue. And from then on, it's one contrivance after another that lets Silver slip through the cracks. After awhile, you just start pulling your hair.

This is forgettable stalker material, but Bigelow at least keeps things moving.

5/10

This film begins well enough, building to what looks like being a promising study of a psychopath pitted against a feisty, but vulnerable, policewoman. Drawing on fear as a driver of eroticism, the unlikely relationship between Curtis and Silver develops to the edge of what might have been a great film. But sadly, at the halfway point, the story becomes unbelievable as both characters undertake actions that render the plot risible.

Silver turns in an impressive performance as the deranged commodity trader and Curtis plays it adequately enough. But neither can do anything to save the plot line and the whole thing ends in a mess, with the hardware of weaponry taking over from the software of psychology that would have provided a far more intelligent film.

Ron silver acted so bad. the script is so bad. in the store scene, she does not call for back up when she sees what was happeneing. and later ron silver takes away the gun, okay thats a bit surprising because there had been no introduction to his character until then, and funny jamie does not bother to stay behind and do the policework, thats okay because she is apparently too shocked and takes leave. later the chief accuses her of shooting ron silver too many times and also going to the extent of accusing her of shooting an unarmed man. now how about the people in the store, surely someone did see him, how about the security camera, how about the people in the streets, well nobody seems to have seen this guy hold the gun. Very poor film by any standards. Later silver shoots jamie's friend while holding jamie's neck with his arms, and she later says she did not see his face... what a stupid story.