Film Snail

No Way Out
No Way Out

6.9

No Way Out

R·1987·114m

Summary

Navy Lt. Tom Farrell meets a young woman, Susan Atwell , and they share a passionate fling. Farrell then finds out that his superior, Defense Secretary David Brice, is also romantically involved with Atwell. When the young woman turns up dead, Farrell is put in charge of the murder investigation. He begins to uncover shocking clues about the case, but when details of his encounter with Susan surface, he becomes a suspect as well.

Crew

Director

Roger Donaldson

Novel

Kenneth Fearing

Screenplay, Screenstory

Robert Garland

Reviews

John Chard

John Chard

September 25, 2014

8

Counting down the hours for some self investigation.

No Way Out is directed by Roger Donaldson and adapted to screenplay by Robert Garland from the novel "The Big Clock" written by Kenneth Fearing. It stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, Will Patton, George Dzundza and Howard Duff. Music is by Maurice Jarre and cinematography by John Alcott.

Already filmed impressively as The Big Clock in 1948, Fearing's ingenious source material gets a shift to a Pentagon backdrop and still comes out a winner. Putting their own spin on the central story, that of a man finding he is investigating "himself" during a murder enquiry, the makers unfurl a labyrinthine plot that keeps up the suspense quota right to the very end.

In true noir style, the story is crammed with double bluffs, deceit, sex and death, with the added ingredient of politico intrigue to spice things still further. Cast are led superbly by Costner and Hackman, though Young is a bit too dull an actress to really put fire into the key femme role, and Alcott makes great use of the real Washington locations to bring visual authenticity to the story's setting.

Jarre's score is hokey sounding and doesn't sit right with the dramatics on show, while the big reveal at the finale is still as divisive today as it was back on the film's release, but this is still a fine example of a film noir remake that really works for the neo-noir loving crowd. 8/10

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$15,000,000.00

Revenue:

$35,509,515.00

Keywords

washington dc, usa
espionage
homicide
pentagon
minister
u.s. navy
photographic evidence
limousine
remake
mole
secretary of defense
soviet spy
spy thriller
enlarged picture
deep cover
international espionage
all evidence points to protagonist