In True Blue Tom Berenger plays a dirty Harry like cop who is constantly getting disciplined and/or chewed out by the higher ups most notably by Barry Newman his immediate superior. After a drug sting doesn't yield what it's supposed to presumably because of Berenger he gets assigned a really tough homicide, all that's found is a severed hand in a pond in a city park.It's determined to be female and the hand yields fingerprints in the system. A young woman who has a rap sheet for prostitution who also has roommate doing same and a third who is also missing who has left not so much as a fingernail.It's all complicated maybe too complicated tale of city corruption, drug dealing, folks who have alternative sexual tastes. Some Asian drug gangs are involved.Then there's a most mysterious roommate of the deceased played by Lori Heuring who Berenger starts feeling the heat for below decks. Only the gayest people in the world wouldn't.The story may get a bit too complex, but there's enough action out there. Including a final confrontation right out of a Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry film. As for the final irony, think of the John Wayne film Rio Lobo and what that dirty gun does.

***SPOILERS*** Almost indescribable plot involving this mysterious severed hand that pops up in the duck pond at Taylor Park in Boston that belonged to a young woman, Melanie Ann Hines, who worked in the Mayor's office. Boston Homicide Detective Rembrandt Macy, Tom Berenger, is put on the case of the missing body, since the hand was already in police custody, together with his super super cool and sexy partner Detective Beck, Pamela Gidley, by their boss Monty, Barry Newman, to solve this very baffling murder case.Macy who's already on the outs with his superiors in the Boston Police Department because of his my way or the highway attitude gets even more resented by them in him shacking up with the dead and missing handless women's roommate Nikkie Calderon, Louri Heuring, who if its possible is even sexier and a hell of a lot hotter then his partner Detective Beck! In that Nikki is more then willing to take her clothes off and put out for the happily surprised and eager to jump into action Detective Rembrandt Macy unlike his partner Detective Beck who despite her good looks is about as cold as the iceberg that sank the Titanic: Why is it that guys like Macy have all the luck!The film soon get a bit over our heads with all the subplots thrown into it that makes it look like it, or the movie screenwriters, is having trouble in making up its mind in what to do to make it more understandable to those of us watching it or just how to end it as soon as possible before it gets even more ridicules then it already is. There's the usual double triple and even quadruple crosses you would expect in a tangled detective film like "True Blue" but it doesn't just end at that. Detective Macy's actions are so over the top that you start to wounder if he's not on some kind of hallucinogenic drug or weed that he's secretly smoking or drinking besides the gallons and packs of booze and cigarettes he consumes in the movie.Macy despite his bumbling does in fact track down just who's responsible for all the mess he and the audience finds themselves in but goes one step higher in putting his fat head on the chopping block in confronting the person whom he feels murdered or knows who murdered Melenia Ann Hines. Macy does that by confronting the suspected killer on his own turf, Boston's Chinatown, with a two million dollar payoff in order for Macy to keep his mouth shut about him to the Boston Police.****SPOILERS*** Just when you and Macy thought that you knew who Melanie's killer is in pops the surprise of all surprises, in a movie filled with surprises, to who not only did in poor dead and handless Melanie but almost everyone else in the movie's cast! And is now planning to do in both Macy & Nikki in order to make it, in wiping the slate or cast clean, a full house! Macy who by now realizes that he's been suckered into all this insanity, the film "True Blue", still has an ace up his sleeve even when he's shot and left for dead by one of the schemers he trusted, against his better judgment, in! The old mud stuffed up the gun barrel trick that Macy's potential killer fell for lock stock & barrel!P.S Check out movie stuntman Oscar Hsu in one of his rare acting appearances as a bullet riddled corpse lying on a slab at the Boston City Morgue!

Perhaps it was my slightly lowered expectations, but I found this movie to be perfectly adequate and competent. I thought it was interesting and I was drawn to the screen until the end.It's got that moody film noir look to it, and there were times when the lighting wasn't too flattering on the cast. I guess kudos should go out to the stars who didn't mind being seen in such a light (though none of them ever looked really bad). And true, the plot was somewhat complex at times, but I didn't have too much trouble following it, and I am notorious for forgetting characters' names and losing track of extremely intricate plot details.Tom Berenger gave a very convincing and heartfelt performance as anantisocial policeman who, admittedly, is no longer in the full blush of youth. While Berenger may be thicker around the middle than he was in the days of"Major League", he looked just fine for the (presumably) 40-something character he was playing. Besides, his hair always looked great, so that's gotta be worth something.Lori Heuring never seemed to give off much charisma as far as I am concerned(but I may not be appreciating all of her assets, since I am female). But, she was competent in her role. Barry Newman, Soon Tek-Oh and the rest of the castwere fine as well.The plot was interesting, with plenty of twists that kept me guessing until the end. I enjoyed seeing a film that was a little more unpredictable. Extra points go for keeping me on my toes! (I usually pride myself in being able to guess "who dunnit" early in the film, but not so with this movie.)While the pace of this movie may have been slow at times, it didn't bother me that much. The romance in this movie (such as it was) seemed rather flat aswell. However, this was still a perfectly satisfactory movie, and while far from perfect, certainly is worth a look if you are interested in moody noir-typemysteries.*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT******DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT A VAGUE BUT IMPORTANT DETAIL ABOUT THE END OF THIS FILM!There is a scene early in the film where the Berenger character is talking to the guy who works in the morgue, and says to him, "Boy, I hope I never end up onone of your slabs." My ears pricked up, and I had this sinking feeling thatBerenger's character would, indeed, end up on a slab in the morgue by the end of the film. I was SO glad when my hunch turned out to be incorrect. I guess I'm turning into an old softie, but I hate seeing the protagonist / hero end up on a slab at the end of a movie!

I'm unsure as to what I really think of this film. I enjoyed watching it, though it was in reality nothing special. It started rather slowly, and for the longest time you are not sure what the story is about. Are we watching Tom's character, Rem, falling in love, ruining his career, or is the film about the investigation and finding the baddy! Well neither story really worked out. The plot through out the film is complicated and about persons you don't see at all in the movie, though the ending (at least to me) was a surprise (one of this time when you think you've cracked it, but then there is one final twist!). And the love story was unbelievable and looked more like a middle aged man getting turned on by a teen. However, there was something about the film that still kept me interested, so like I say, I'm not completely clear as to how to judge it. I think what maybe kept the film both interesting and enjoyable was very good acting by Lori Heuring, playing the girl Nikki. 5/10