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, Will Patton |
| 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 film about a U.S. Naval Officer wrongfully accused of murder. It stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young, and it is a remake of The Big Clock; both films are based on The Big Clock, a novel by poet and novelist Kenneth Fearing.
The supporting cast includes Will Patton, Howard Duff, George Dzundza, Jason Bernard and Fred Thompson. The African-born international model Iman also appears. 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.
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[edit] Plot summary
In a prelude of sorts at a Presidential Inaugural Ball, Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) meets a beautiful young woman, Susan Atwell (Sean Young). The two have sex in a moving limousine in a notorious scene and subsequently begin an affair. Farrell soon leaves on deployment, but it is already clear at the Ball that Atwell is someone’s mistress. During his deployment Farrell rescues a sailor on his ship during a storm at sea and becomes the hero of the hour in the U.S. news media.
The story is set amidst the political backdrop of a very successful Defense Secretary, David Brice (Gene Hackman) as he attempts 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 position on the issue, Brice wants to hire someone to act as a liaison between the CIA and Secretary's office, the real purpose of the position being an attempt to gather information about whether or not the Soviets really are working on such a project. Brice's aide, Scott Pritchard (Will Patton), is a friend of Farrell's, and Brice mentions that his recently attained status as a military hero would certainly help. Farrell soon meets with Brice and Pritchard and accepts the position.
Meanwhile the affair between Brice and Atwell continues, and Farrell becomes increasingly upset by this. When Farrell learns that Atwell’s “other man” is Brice he comments, “I work for him!”, to which she sardonically replies, “Then that makes two of us.” Brice also eventually learns of Atwell’s affair with another man, although he remains ignorant of his identity, and he 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 Pritchard to instead cover up everything and blame it on 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 focusing 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.” Knowing that "Yuri" doesn't exist, Director Marshall (Fred Dalton Thompson) dismisses the possibility it could be Pritchard having an affair with Atwell, revealing that Pritchard is a closeted homosexual. 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 presents 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 shifts the blame to his long-suffering aide, Pritchard, who commits suicide as a final gesture of dedication to his boss when he realizes that Brice wants him take the blame rather than Farrell.
The movie ends with an extremely surprising plot twist. After Brice’s (unseen) arrest and downfall, Farrell is seen mourning at Atwell’s grave when two apparent “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 in the Philippines is actually a hand-off of communications to his superiors, explaining his reluctance to chase the boy.
As it turns out, none of the events during the film were entirely accidental. The Soviets, aware of the ongoing affair between Brice and Atwell, sent Farrell to seduce Atwell hoping to pick up information to enable them to blackmail Brice.
[edit] Edits
The original working title of the movie was "Deceit".
In dismissing the suggestion that Scott Pritchard was the one having the affair with Susan Atwell, CIA Director Marshall states that Pritchard is a homosexual to which someone says, “I’ll be damned” and Marshall replies, “So is he, if you believe in the Bible.” This statement was later edited so that Marshall says, “So is he, if you believe in the Old Testament.”
[edit] References in popular culture
- In the Family Guy episode To Love and Die in Dixie, Chris Griffin remarks that he, "hasn't been [this] confused since the end of No Way Out," at which point it cuts to a scene where Chris is exiting a theater with "No Way Out" on the marquee, and Chris remarks, "How does Kevin Costner keep getting work?"
[edit] External links
