Haywire

There must be Freudianinsights explainingwhy so many youngmales respond
positively to superwomen asheroines. Atscience fiction and comics
conventions, a woman wearing a fetishisticsuperherocostume will almost
certainly be thefocus of acircle of intent fanboys. Maybe there's the
prospect of an all-protecting mom. Or thepromise of acoolfemale buddy.
Thepossibility ofsex seemsto besecondary.Mallory Kane, theheroine of
"Haywire," is a splendid example of thecharacter type. Herfirstname
springsfrom a Latinroot forevil, and herlastnameevokes associations
with Britishpornography ("Strictinstruction for naughtyschoolboys. Call
Miss Kane"). Steven Soderbergh's latest film is a thriller thathasnext to
nothing to do withsex, except as an implement of distraction, but under
thesurface, there's anappealcoiling to thatpart of many men that feels
kinda needy about Lara Croft.Mallory is played by Gina Carano, aretired
mixedmartial arts fighter. Her range is suggested byhaving placed No. 5
on a Most Influential Women list onYahoo! and No. 16 on Maxim's Hot 100.
On the basis of "Haywire," I expect herto become a considerablebox-office
success,becausethe fact is, within a limited range,she's good. In the
movie'sfirstscene,she walks into alittlecafe inupstate New York, sits
down,sips alittle tea and had mehooked. Shehas the no-nonsense beauty
of a Noomi Rapace, Linda Fiorentino or Michelle Monaghan.