Vito Russo, in The Celluloid Closet considered this as one of the most homophobic gay-themed films ever made. But rather than quickly dismissing the film, a closer look is called for as this was a Hollywood film of the 80s, made by people who were thinking that it was both funny and possibly gay-sensitive! Ryan O’Neal plays Benson, a pretty-boy straight detective who is reluctantly teamed up with an effeminate, frigid, in-the-closet desk cop named Kerwin (John Hurt) to go undercover as gay lovers to investigate a gay serial killer. Told to "live in their neighbourhood, eat in their restaurants and shop in their stores", the film begins to indulge itself with every conceivable homophobic cliché. Hurt, whose wardrobe seems to consist entirely of pink and lilac, is a scared, helpless femme who, in the course of the job, takes on the ‘wife’s role’, becoming a cleaning, ironing, souffle-making jealous queen who eventually falls in love with the couldn’t-care-less O’Neal. The many homosexuals depicted are seen as promiscuous, lisping, limp-wristed queens who should basically be laughed at and pitied. Surprisingly, as is the case in many of these films, the fag doesn’t die in the end, although he is shot in the stomach!

 When viewing this film, it is advisable to see it in an historical context, both in a pre-AIDS era, and the attitudes of Hollywood towards gays at the time. It is advisable to watch The Celluloid Closet first, in order to appreciate the anachronistic values portrayed in the film.