Sean Young's films

No Streep-like chameleon acts for Sean Young: Like the stars of golden-era Hollywood, she pretty much brings the same persona to film after film. But that persona-a tough cookie waylaid by nervous fragility-is so unusual that she generally intrigues even if the movie disappoints. Here are the Young ones to watch -and avoid. Not included are cameo appearances in Stripes, Dune, and Wall Street.

Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980)
In her first film, a strained affair about rival New York theater troupes intent on staging Austen, Young plays a malleable novice actress. She looks the part. C-

Young Doctors in Love (1982)
A stricken intern in a D.O.A. hospital parody. It wants to be another Airplane!, but it never takes off. D

Blade Runner (1982)
Looking like a 21st-century Gibson Girl, she’s the android apple of Harrison Ford’s eye in Ridley Scott’s creepy sci-fi cult epic. A new ”director’s cut,” without the annoying voice-over, has been playing in Los Angeles and will open elsewhere Feb. 14. B+

Baby…Secret of the Lost Legend (1985)
A paleontologist who discovers and aids a baby brontosaurus (it looks more like Gumby’s mutant brother). C-

Under the Baltimore Clock (1985)
This PBS Fitzgerald adaptation starts wittily, with husband-hunting Young snaring a rich nerd. Then she meets his family, and it turns into bad Jazz Age Twin Peaks. C-

No Way Out (1987)
Her backseat whoopee with Kevin Costner finally made Young a household name. She’s only on screen for half of this quick, shivery suspense film — more than enough to give the movie its conscience and the audience a new star. A

The Boost (1988)
This feel-bad parable about a couple brought down by cocaine might have been better if the weird vibes between Young and James Woods had made it in front of the cameras. D+

Cousins (1989)
She hams to a finely tuned fare-thee-well as a two-timing wife (with William Petersen) — a woman not as smart as she thinks but not as dumb as she looks. B+

Fire Birds (1990)
In this Top Gun ripoff, Young makes you believe her chopper pilot falls for piggy Nicolas Cage — now that’s acting. D-

A Kiss Before Dying (1991) Young plays twins, both at the mercy of murderous mate Matt Dillon. It was a nifty concept in 1956, but the remake gets hornswoggled by a muddled script and botched editing. D