Big Easy, le flic de mon coeur

This movie was an unexpected delight. In general, I don't like thrillers or suspense, so I braced myself for something that would not be to my taste. Was I ever wrong! The moment the opening credits came on with that wonderful music playing, I knew I would love this film. Although I didn't meet anybody in New Orleans who talked like Dennis Quaid did in this movie, and his portrayal of Rennie McSwain came off as something of a caricature, I still found him extremely enjoyable to watch and as a leading man, he was as sexy as a romantic hero can be. Ellen Barkin was great as the leading lady. The suspense part of the plot was perhaps the weakest part, but the romantic storyline was perfect. The music was so great, it made everything work. Yes, the movie makers made some mistakes with their geography, but that was completely forgivable, as the overall film was such a delight to watch. And few movies nowadays have such a great soundtrack as this movie has. A true delight, this will be a timeless classic.

Supposedly a dramatic crime thriller, The Big Easy also is funny at beginning, when a new District Attorney Anne Osbourne (Barkin) sudden arrives at Police department of New Orleans looking for a clue of corruption that involves bribe and something else, Remy McSwain (Dennis Quaid) was part of a long cops's family, always accepting few dollars as "Club of widows & orphans founds", his joyful manner catch the tough one Anne, growing a sexual interest in both.

However Remy was caught in a frame, indicted by accepted bribery, Anne and Remy stays in opposite ways on the Courthouse, she no longer trust him, after some minor adjustments allowed by the corrupt system he was release for lack of proofs, although it wasn't the whole story, endeed The Big Easy is plentiful entertainment , mainly supported by a smart screenplay and a distinct and great southern soundtrack, on Cajun accent, gathered fine veteran actors as Ned Beatty and Marc Lawrence and good newcomers as John Goodman and Gailard Sartain neither, Dennis Quaid made one the biggest acting ever!!

Resume:

First watch: 1993 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.

I found this to be a so-so modern-day film noir drama - not bad, but nothing super. To its credit, it provides a little humor to offset the ugliness.

It also provides the standard sex scenes, this one featuring Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin; the seedy New Orleans atmosphere and the standard cops-are- crooked angle. The last part plays a big role in this story as even the good guy Quaid admits to numerous minor offenses. Unfortunately, you can't always understand Dennis as he gives us his Cajun accent. He sounded - and looked - as if he had marbles in his mouth.

Barkin was not as rough-talking and rough-looking as she was in a bunch of other films from the mid '80s to mid '90s, which was fine with me. New Orleans was pictured, as it so often is, as very bleak and dingy. If city residents weren't happy with this movie, I could understand that.

The ending of the film is a little hokey but overall, the story was interesting and I gave it two looks over the years, liking it better the second time.

"The Big Easy" is a lot of fun for native New Orleanians. I've never seen this film until yesterday, and it delighted me to see some of my former colleagues in the NOPD Detective Bureau play cops in the movie. Gus Krinke (now retired) actually did a very credible job as portraying an Internal Affairs Detective.

Yes, the 'accents' as portrayed here are unbelievable...many tourists are astonished to learn that most New Orleanians talk almost exactly like they're from Brooklyn, not some backwater swamp.

I understand Quaid enjoyed himself in New Orleans while making this movie, and it clearly shows. Grace Zabriskie (who was actually born in N.O.) was the most believable character. John Goodman liked the place so much he bought a home in the Crescent City.

Quaid and Barkin definitely put some spice in their roles...their chemistry was apparent and believable (unlike Quaid's accent), and their romance was really the only thing believable in this 'police movie'.

BTW, real New Orleans cops don't work out of 'Precinct Houses', sports fans, they're referred to as 'Districts'...New Orleans has 8 (eight) Police Districts. And I was delighted to see that the official ("unofficial") NOPD 'Vulture/star-and-Crescent' Homicide 'badge' was shown so often.

All in all, this film is a lot of fun despite its numerous technical flaws, and I give it 6 out of 10.

The Big Easy is directed by Jim McBride and written by Daniel Petrie Jr. It stars Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman and Ned Beatty. Music is scored by Brad Fiedel and cinematography by Affonso Beato.

Remy McSwain (Quaid) is a slightly corrupt New Orleans cop, who whilst investigating the murder of a mob man, finds himself under scrutiny by assistant district attorney Anne Osborne (Barkin). The waters start to become muddied when the pair begin to have a passionate affair, just as the can opens and worms spill out everywhere.

It's an odd film at times, a bit too jovial to be considered proper neo-noir, and Quaid's Southern accent takes some getting used too. It's also nearly derailed in quality as conventionality dominates the last quarter of film.Yet judged on its own thriller terms it entertains well enough whilst also having some neat technical touches to help it along. Petrie's script contains spiky dialogue and a number of bravura sequences light up the otherwise standard crooked cop story.

McBride dose good work on this, he opens his film up with a cracker of a camera tracker, and he makes good use of the New Orleans locations. He also has a good sense of prop choices to help the mood, none more so than with a scene involving Mardi Gras costumes, whilst he gets strength for the film by garnering tense and sexy performances out of Quaid and Barkin. Support actors also leave good marks, with Goodman as a cop colleague dominating the screen and Charles Ludlam almost stealing the film as McSwain's dry and near sleazy lawyer. Soundtrack, too, is well thought out, with the Cajun flavours spicing up the sweaty Orleans stew. 7/10