Blue Steel: Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow's Blue Steel is a decent film. But it would have been a great one if the characters weren’t so deliberately idiotic that you root AGAINST them. It’s rare to see a film start off SO GOOD only to collapse under the weight of plot holes, non-existent character motivations, and unbelievable narrative twists in the second act. The film is about Megan Turner, a rookie New York City policewoman who, on her first night, confronts and kills a criminal holding up a grocery store. However, the criminal's gun was never recovered. Why? Because it was picked up by Eugene Hunt, a mentally ill commodities trader who uses it to go on a killing spree. But he also develops an unhealthy obsession with Turner, even going so far as to date her. The moment where Turner discovers Hunt's true identity, the plot loses all credibility. It's obvious that Bigelow is trying something very ambitious in this film: create a kind of Silence of the Lambs intrigue between policewoman and killer. But it is executed so poorly and inconsistently that we aren't enraptured by the tension, but by the characters' stupidity. If I start describing all of the plot holes here, I won't be able to stop until I write a 5,000 word essay. But here's the biggest one: why doesn't the police chief believe Turner's story that Hunt is a killer when all of her friends and family either end up dead or attacked and Hunt is ALWAYS NEARBY AT THE TIME OF THE ASSAULTS? I think Bigelow may have been trying to make a commentary about how women professionals aren't taken seriously by their male bosses, but it doesn't work. Even if a character is irrational, there has to be a RATIONAL explanation for their irrationality. But the characters in Blue Steel aren't given decent explanations for why they act the way they do. We are only given half-realized hints and suggestions that seem like relics from past screenplay drafts. This is just proof that Bigelow needs to stop writing her own films. And, thankfully, she seems to have realized this all on her own over a decade ago.

6/10