The Enforcer

The third Dirty Harry film, and the first to press on the series' formula from inside. An armed group takes San Francisco hostage; Callahan clashes with his superiors again and is punished again. This time he is given a partner: Kate Moore, the division's first woman detective, promoted as a public relations move. What works is that relationship. Callahan does not want her, tells her she is not ready and treats her with sarcasm; Moore does not try to prove herself to him, she simply does the job. The way the distance between them closes gives the series an unusual humanity. Tyne Daly plays Moore and gives the best performance in the film. The action is more standard than elsewhere in the series, and the political motivation of the criminals stays shallow. A necessary link for anyone following Dirty Harry. For anyone starting here, who Callahan is and why he is this angry is never explained.