Blue Steel-Packing Heat in a Man's World

Blue Steel is a 1990 star vehicle directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring the lovely Jamie Lee Curtis as rookie NYPD police officer Megan Turner.  You see her at her Academy graduation ceremony and later, interactions with family and men, and all seem a bit disconcerted about the idea of a pretty young woman being an armed, trained police officer.  Now, I remember police shows and films from the 70s and 80s and it seemed like America was still getting used to the idea of female police officers, that the idea was still a novelty and the culture was still adjusting.  Part of me is thinking that this film, directed by a woman who portrays strong, competent, heroic women in her works, is kind of the tail end of this cultural adjustment.  Her family is concerned about her choice of careers.  Men flirting with her then blanch and bail when they find out she's a gun toting warrior babe.  Now, me, I find such sexy, and I think I always have, once I figured out what "sexy" meant.

Anyway, Officer Turner happens on a robbery happening at a convenience store.  The robber (Tom Sizemore) turns his gun on Megan and she has to shoot him.  One store patron, a broker played by Ron Silver, nicks the robbers dropped gun.  The missing pistol causes Turner problems, and those problems are compounded when the broker begins shooting people in the street.  NYPD internal affairs begins investigating Turner, represented by Detective Nick Mann (Clancy Brown).  And though she goes through many trials, the truth does begin to emerge. 

This is a gritty police drama and has less stylish flourish in both it's shooting style as well as language than we are used to getting from Ms. Bigelow.  It is as if she played this one purposely low key as to emphasize both it's street feel and a more "true to life" vibe.  Turner, though being a trained cop, is just a normal woman doing a job and trying to live her life and doing her best with some crazy, crazy circumstances.

It is all low key, until the firefight at the end, then that's when it all hits the fan.

Good flick.