Blue Steel

Movie Name: Blue Steel
Year of Release: 1990
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Louise Fletcher, Philip Bosco, Elizabeth Peña, Kevin Dunn, Richard Jenkins, Markus Flanagan, Mike Hodge, Mike Starr, Tom Sizemore, Matt Craven
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

"Blue Steel" was Kathryn Bigelow's third feature since her debut with "The Loveless" in 1981. It was also another collaboration of her with screenwriter and director Eric Red, who made a name for himself in the 1980s with Robert Harmon's "The Hitcher", his own "Cohen and Tate", and his previous collaboration with Kathryn Bigelow, the vampire film "Near Dark". The film focuses its narrative on a fresh out of school police officer by the name of Megan Turner. In one of her first assignments she's forced to shoot a robber, who is holding up a neighborhood supermarket, and is threatening to kill people. When she shoots him, his gun falls to the ground, and one of the people in the supermarket, commodities trader Eugene Hunt, takes the gun and eventually slips away. Even with the eyewitnesses, but because the gun could not be retrieved, Megan is suspended from the job (and treated very harshly in the process). Eugene in the meantime starts killing random people with the gun all the while having paranoid delusions. Megan is trying to clear her name, but also starts dating Eugene, who has become obsessed with her. He admits to her he took the gun from the supermarket, and has been killing people since then. Megan arrests him, but Eugene is freed since his lawyer claims lack of evidence. Megan manages to partner with Detective Nick Mann, and they both seek out the evidence needed to arrest Eugene, but the following events just keep harming Megan's credibility further and further.

Kathryn Bigelow has a rare talent of making her stories and her characters both vivid and authentic. Even when the narrative is a futuristic one such as "Strange Days" or more of a trip back in time such as "The Weight of Water", every story fills inhabited by credible characters and situations. "Blue Steel" is one of her films where the plausibility of what's taking place is stretched beyond reasonable. While the obsessive relationship that is captured between Eugene and Megan has some possible ties with reality, everything else that is occurring around it, is stretched to a limit that undermines the narrative that is being told. There are sub-plots in the film that aim to bring some additional dimension to Megan as a character, and they do have enough dramatic ethos to do so (namely the relationship between her parents), however that is not extended to any of the other characters, including Eugene, who is illustrated as a sudden serial killer who is able to hold a very visible job during the day (he's the original "American Psycho" apparently). What eventually starts happening as the film progresses, and the incredulity of the situations mount, the ability to capture the audience's attention and investment lessens. The disconnect between where the narrative started and where it eventually leads is enormous, which in itself is not problematic, but that journey for the characters themselves feels less organic and more like a science-fiction narrative (which I don't think is the purpose). Jonathan Demme in his brilliant take on Thomas Harris' "The Silence of the Lambs" also took us on a journey, but one where even with the horrific tale being presented on screen, there was a consistency to it that made it engaging to go on the journey with Clarice Starling from beginning to end. This film lacks a supple journey, Megan's events feel unstructured, and Eugene's ability to circumvent every single challenge, particularly for someone who has no idea of what he is doing, feel unreal. The cast tries their best with the material they have, particularly Jamie Lee Curtis who gives it her all, with Clancy Brown, Louise Fletcher and Philip Bosco providing good support. The production team is impeccable, including Brad Fiedel's score and Amir Mokri's cinematography. It's a lessen feature in Kathryn Bigelow's body of work.