No Way Out

Watching "No Way Out" is like reading a dime store pulp novel: it doesn't really amount to much in the end, but there are twists and turns aplenty to keep you interested and engaged. Fortunately, a wonderful cast helps this pulpy thriller remain somewhat memorable in the annals of film.

For a very basic overview, "No Way Out" tells the story of Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner), a naval officer who is romancing Susan Atwell (Sean Young). The problem? Tom's boss--Secretary of Defense David Brice (Gene Hackman)--is also "involved" with Ms. Atwell and responsible for her death. This sets off a cat-and-mouse coverup scheme as Farrell and Brice both try to resolve the situation.

As previously mentioned, there are quite a few plot machinations that get thrown at "No Way Out" viewers. If they are all truly scrutinized, they don't hold up to much--if any--logic. As such, this film was never going to be any sort of all-time classic. That being said, there are three aspects that director Roger Donaldson and writers Kenneth Fearing & Robert Garland have going for them here...

First, the combination of Costner (in between his Bull Durham & Field of Dreams roles), Hoosiers-era Hackman, and an almost impossibly young Will Patton could make just about anything watchable. The chemistry between those three stalwarts (plus a vivacious Young) alone is worth the price of admission.

Secondly, "No Way Out" is sort of a "ticking clock" of suspense and tension. It seems as if everything is a race to grab some piece of information or individual before someone else gets to him/her, which makes it so that the proceedings are never dull or bland. It also features technology that, while laughably out-of-date now, was cutting edge in the late-80s.

Finally, a whopper of a surprise ending is completely and utterly ludicrous, yet so out-of-left-field that it actually works well amidst all the other pulp in "No Way Out". One of those situations where you sort of know the ending is ridiculous, yet it doesn't rankle because that is largely the name of the game all the way through.

Overall, watching "No Way Out" is a bit of a wild experience no matter how you slice it. I'd never give it a cent over 7/10 stars, but if you can turn the plot-based, analytical part of your brain off and just ride the rollercoaster--while enjoying some actors at the top or beginning of their games--it can be enjoyed.

"No Way Out" is one of the most original, suspenseful, tightly-knit thrillers ever made, comparable to John Frankenheimer's "Seven Days in May". Set in the Cold War era, Gene Hackman plays the Secretary of Defense, a married man obsessed with his mistress, the exquisitely beautiful Sean Young...as is her other secret lover, Costner, a Naval Admiral who is the C.I.A.'s Liaison. When Hackman accidentally kills Young in a jealous rage, a cover-up begins to find the notorious, never-seen Russian mole "Yuri" who works within the Pentagon, and to frame him for the murder. Costner is commanded to oversee the operation, and the action begins...and is sustained with the intensity of a race on the Autobahn. The amazing all-star cast also features Will Patton, George Dzunda, Iman and David Paymer. Costner delivers what is perhaps his most subtle performance. What distinguishes "No Way Out" is its brilliant plotting, tautness, and constant surprises...with the ending being the most deliriously mind-blowing surprise of all.

The last quarter drags on a little too long, and the characters and their decisions often seem unrealistically erratic, but it all comes together in the end. I was surprised this movie was able to pay off so well. The finale comes out of nowhere, but it provides the plot and main character some depth.

Music is corny though. Some of it sounds like it was made for a bad '80s TV show. That's my lone complaint.

Okay. The plot has more holes than the brain of a cow suffering from bovine spongiform disorder. So what? The whole movie is fast, palatable, and most important of all, not entirely insulting to the viewer. The story has already been described so I won't go into it except to say that it's an improvement over its source, "The Big Clock," and probably the novel that work was based on. It doesn't depend on special effects. There is only one car chase, ending in a foot race, and it's mercifully brief and doesn't end in an exploding fireball. In fact nothing ends in an exploding fireball. Tears of gratitude brim from my eyes, just being able to write that sentence.

There's a completely unnecessary plot twist at the very end that leaves final developments ambiguously open. But, that aside, and given a bit of effort at the suspension of disbelief, events hang together logically and build on one another. And we follow them tensely as one improbability leads to another. The movie has images that impress themselves on the viewer's perception, willy nilly, whole scenes and little bits of business.

We have, first of all, Kevin Costner as a naval officer all of us can identify with -- he's smart, heroic, handsome, virile, important, and looks very spiffy in his immaculate white uniform and shoes as he skips or runs full tilt through the sterile corridors of the Pentagon, pursued by devils or by two brainless thugs in dark suits, one of whom sprints in a more than usually awkward manner, his arms flapping gracelessly at his sides. Costner's acting. It's okay. He still sounds and looks like an innocent all-American surfer but he can't help that. Now and then he actually successfully projects the feelings and thoughts of his character. (I couldn't figure out what the gold badge on his uniform was; it looks like neither a submariner's dolphins nor an aviator's wings.) Sean Young -- wow! Has any body, I mean anybody ever been more classically assembled? Her face is full of good bone structure. It has no quirkiness. She's beautiful in the way a painting of a woman would be beautiful if you took a portrait artist, sat him down, and asked him to dream up a pretty woman and get it down on canvas. Her face is an operational definition of "conventional beauty." And it doesn't stop with her face. She exudes a kind of sensuality that seems unaware of its own appeal, only aware of its own needs. She's foxy in the most negligent kind of way, the kind of woman who might not draw the curtains at night -- not because she enjoys showing off but because she just doesn't care. She may not lay waste the countryside as an actress, but doesn't need to. And what she says is believable enough.

Gene Hackman is supposed to be a misled good guy. Yet he's guilty of, what?, would it be manslaughter? Womanslaughter? First-degree male chauvinist swinery? His character is supposed to be basically sympathetic, and he and the director play it that way, after establishing him as a politician unwilling to play along with the militarists in Congress. But he's pretty weaselly when you come right down to it -- begging Costner not to give him away, promising him anything -- promotions, better jobs, whatever. And in the end he seems willing to let all the blame fall on his assistant, Will Patton.

In many ways, it's Patton's movie. Patton is to Hackman more or less what Martin Landau was to James Mason in "North by Northwest," a jealous and protective buffer between his master and the rest of the world. And Patton does a superb job here. After accidentally killing his girl friend, Hackman stumbles into Patton's apartment, needing "someone to talk to before I go to the police." As Hackman spills out his story, Patton hovers over him with a troubled meaningless grin, both his hands fluttering around Hackman's shoulders from behind, as if ready to massage his trapezius. Patton's eyes bulge with surprise and concern. In an earlier scene when Hackman is dressing for a date with Young, Patton carefully brushes some unseen specks from the shoulders of Hackman's dark jacket, preparing his crush for an encounter with his own rival. And watch the expression on Patton's face when he's alone in the gymnasium with George Dzunza and Dzunza spills the beans about Costner's knowing everything. The changes Patton's features undergo are so subtle, the stretched fatuous smile relaxing into the open mouth of utter surprise. What an opportunity for a lesser actor to overplay the reaction, but Patton holds it all in place. That grin turns from idiotic to reassuring in a scene in which Hackman hits Patton in the head with a neatly flung folder full of papers. In context, the actor's natural slight lisp is menacingly telling. We really didn't need Fred Dalton Thompson to inform us in his boring monotone that the character was "a homosexual." I suppose the line was in the script because it was designed to enlighten some elderly folks who may never have left their home in Elko.

It's a catchy movie. I didn't find the opening that slow. Except I guess I've seen enough heated sexual encounters in the back seats of limos and taxis. This one harks back to Angie Dickinson's scene in DePalma's "Dressed to Kill." Knowing DePalma one wonders if the idea came to him from Hitchcock's oft-repeated fantasy of the woman who acts like a perfect lady until she gets you in the back seat of a taxi and immediately opens your pants. (In Hitchcock's fantasies it was always an icy blonde.) It's worth seeing this, if only to watch the visual imagery, enjoy the acting, and let the narrative take you along in its own exciting way.

No Way Out is a political thriller about a man who is hired to work for the Secretary of Defense, but he finds himself in a sticky situation that could lead to him being accused of treason and subsequently being killed. I do enjoy tense thrillers where the hero is stuck in a difficult position and has to continuously avoid being caught. They constantly keep you on your toes, and I love those moments where you don't know what he can do next. There were several times that I felt his way of stalling the inevitable in this film was a bit cheesy and unrealistic, but within the logic of the film it worked well enough. For the sake of avoiding spoilers I won't delve into how much more the logic breaks down by the end, but needless to say this isn't exactly the smartest movie I've ever seen, but that didn't stop the thrilling aspects from being fun to watch.

What was less fun to watch was about the first 30 minutes or more of the film. This movie takes its time in setting things up, and exploring the romance between Kevin Costner and Sean Young. This kind of graphic detail isn't necessary for me, and I was starting to wonder if I was watching the right movie since it felt more like a romantic drama. There are certainly moments throughout all this courting that are important because they come back as things that might reveal the truth about Costner, but I didn't need the amount of time they spent detailing the romance just for those few small pieces of information. Once the inciting incident occurred, and the actual story got rolling, I had some good fun with No Way Out, I only wish they got us there sooner. No Way Out is still a decent movie, and one I might watch again to see how the story is changed by knowing how it ends.