Cruising

Starting from a classic undercover premise (Pacino descends into Manhattan's SM gay underworld to track a psychopathic killer), and opening with some powerful moments, Cruising soon drifts into bloody Village People-type caricature, with Pacino overplaying his nameless angst as the script patently refuses to tackle the central issue - its hero's sexual ambivalence. The structure continues to loosen, and although Friedkin - like Coppola - has always had difficulty with endings, this one is so arbitrary it's as if he just gave up.