Partners

Sent into the decadent underworld in a lilac VW convertible, odd couple O'Neal (womanising cop masquerading - unconvincingly - as a dumb gay stud) and Hurt (given a bum deal as his partner, an unhappy closet case) skid to a halt in a welter of stupidly sexist stereotypes and a scrappy murder investigation plot. The way O'Neal is confirmed in his macho piggishness, and Hurt finds fulfilment in proving himself an ideal housewife, suggests that the average American male, his privileges eroded by feminism, can still get his dinner cooked and his slippers warmed by the fire if he turns gay. But the film seems less interested in exploring this intriguing (if offensive) idea than in setting up situations where we can ogle O'Neal's body.