No Way Out (1987 film)
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| No Way Out | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Roger Donaldson |
| Produced by | Robert Garland, Laura Ziskin |
| Written by | Kenneth Fearing (novel The Big Clock), Robert Garland |
| Starring | Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography | John Alcott |
| Editing by | William Hoy, Neil Travis |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 14 August 1987 (USA) |
| Running time | 114 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
No Way Out is a 1987 government thriller about a U.S. Naval Officer wrongly accused of murder. It stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young, and is a remake of The Big Clock; both films are based on The Big Clock, a novel by poet and novelist Kenneth Fearing.
The supermodel Iman has a role in the film. The supporting cast includes Will Patton, Howard Duff, George Dzundza, Jason Bernard and Fred Thompson. In addition to the Orion Pictures Corporation studio, filming locations were Annapolis, Maryland, Arlington, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC, USA, as well as Auckland, New Zealand.
The film features original music by the Academy Award-winning Maurice Jarre.
[edit] Plot summary
The story revolves around an attempt by the very successful Defense Secretary, David Brice (Gene Hackman), to cancel a white elephant "Phantom Sub" project that has extremely powerful political backing. The primary reason the project has lasted as long as it has are continuing stories that the Soviets are working on a similar project. Brice considers the stories to be fabrications made solely to keep the project alive, along with the pork barrel money it creates.
In order to shore up his office's position, Brice hires Lt. Cmdr. Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner), a Naval intelligence officer recently branded a "hero" in a very public fashion for actions at sea. Farrell is charged with liaising with the CIA in order to gather information about whether or not the Soviets really are working on such a project.
While at an official party soon after joining Brice, Farrell meets a beautiful young woman, Susan Atwell (Sean Young), and the two have a torrid affair. It is soon revealed that she has another lover, Brice. When Farrell learns of Atwell's affair with Brice he comments, "I work for him!", to which she sardonically replies, "Then that makes two of us."
Brice also learns of the affair, and accidentally murders Atwell in a fit of passion while trying to learn the name of her new lover. Ready to turn himself in, Brice is persuaded by his aide at the Pentagon, a homosexual who may be in love with him, to cover everything up and blame someone else.
In an attempt to deflect attention from himself, Brice claims her lover was in fact a Russian sleeper spy code-named "Yuri", thereby focussing all attention on an attempt to capture the spy. The CIA had created "Yuri" for cheap political points, and are quite amused when they learn the Pentagon has "fallen for it". Unknown to them, Brice is cleverly using their fiction to serve his own ends.
Ironically, unaware of his real role, Brice appoints Farrell to lead the investigation to find her lover. Farrell is thus placed in the position of attempting to find evidence that would implicate himself. The only major piece of forensic evidence in the case is the negative of a Polaroid of Farrell taken by Atwell, although it requires lengthy processing to be useful. While this takes place, Farrell sets about re-directing attention back onto Brice. He does this by planting evidence that Brice gave Atwell a gift that was a government-registered present from another country, thereby linking Atwell and Brice.
The climax is a race between two pieces of evidence, the negative implicating Farrell, and a printout of the present's registration implicating Brice. Farrell wins the race, presenting the paper to Brice just as the image is becoming recognizable on the negative in another part of the Pentagon. Brice immediately puts the blame on his long-suffering aide, who commits suicide when he realizes he is being framed.
The movie ends with an extremely surprising plot twist. After Brice's (unseen) downfall, Farrell is seen mourning at Atwell's grave when apparent two "G-men" arrive and take him away for questioning. One of the interrogators is, oddly, Farrell's landlord. After a few moments he starts talking to Farrell in Russian, and Farrell responds fluently. Farrell is, in fact, "Yuri," and his landlord is his handler. Though the twist is not hinted at during the film, on second viewing audiences may note that what at first seemed to be a boy stealing Farrell's bag is likely a hand-off, explaining his reluctance to chase the boy.
As it turns out, none of the events during the film was entirely accidental. The Soviets, aware of the ongoing affair between Brice and Atwell, send Farrell to seduce Atwell hoping to pick up information to enable them to blackmail Brice. This attempt fails in spectacular fashion, but the outcome is perhaps even better than they had expected.
[edit] Goofs
- At one point Costner's character is reading a print-out from a Pentagon printer. The frame shows the printer misspelling a word and freezes on it for a moment. The word reads: "Brooch / Diamonmd".
- In the film, one scene features a Metro train stop in Georgetown, an area of Washington, DC. There is no such stop in Georgetown. Additionally, the subway scene was obviously shot New York City, and a subway car even clearly says "Metropolitan Transit Authority."
- During the car chase preceding, Costner and his pursuers are seen driving on both the Virginia and Washington side of the Potomac River. They are not seen crossing a bridge before arriving in Georgetown.
