No Way Out (1987 film)

No Way Out is a 1987 American neo-noir[1] political action thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Will Patton and Sean Young. Howard Duff, George Dzundza, Jason Bernard, Fred Thompson, and Iman appear in supporting roles. The film is based on the 1946 novel The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing, previously filmed as The Big Clock (1948) and Police Python 357 (1976).

No Way Out
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoger Donaldson
Screenplay byRobert Garland
Based onThe Big Clock
by Kenneth Fearing
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Alcott
Edited by
Music byMaurice Jarre
Distributed byOrion Pictures
Release date
  • August 14, 1987 (1987-08-14)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million
Box office$35.5 million

Plot

Lt. Cdr. Tom Farrell of the Office of Naval Intelligence is invited to an inaugural ball by his college buddy Scott Pritchard, who intends to introduce him to Secretary of Defense David Brice. There, Farrell also meets Susan Atwell, and the two begin an affair. Brice and Pritchard, his second-in-command, later hire Farrell to get secret information from other government agencies, such as the CIA, and pass it on to Brice. Farrell finds that he may be at times working with Sam Hesselman, an old friend now working as a programmer/analyst in the Pentagon's new computer center. Atwell eventually tells Farrell that she is Brice's mistress.

After Atwell and Farrell return from a romantic weekend, Brice visits her unexpectedly and becomes suspicious that she has another lover. When Atwell tells Brice to leave, he becomes enraged and accidentally pushes her to her death over an upstairs railing. Brice confesses what has happened to Pritchard, who suggests that if Atwell's other lover were alleged to be a suspected KGB sleeper agent code-named "Yuri", then investigating her death could be made a matter of national security and "Yuri" could be killed "in the line of duty" by operatives under Pritchard's control. At Atwell's house, Pritchard discovers the negative of a photograph she had earlier taken of Farrell. The negative is blurry and does not show a recognizable face, but Hesselman attempts to have the image enhanced by computer, a process that may take days.

Army CID officers, commanded by Major Donovan, scour Atwell's apartment for evidence. Meanwhile, as his initial shock begins to wear away, Farrell realizes that Brice is the real murderer and that Pritchard is helping him cover up the crime. At the same time, Farrell also becomes aware that the evidence gathered so far makes him the prime suspect. Farrell determines to play along with the bogus investigation until he can develop evidence linking Brice to Atwell, so that he can defend himself against being charged with both murder and espionage (as "Yuri").

Farrell learns that one piece of evidence is a Moroccan jewel box, a gift to Atwell from Brice. As any foreign gift must be registered with the State Department, Farrell gets Hesselman to "raid" State's computerized registry of such items, which should link the gift to Brice. However, the plan begins unraveling when Pritchard finds Atwell's address book, which Pritchard uses to track down and question her friend Nina. She pretends not to recognize Farrell but Pritchard learns she has heard the name "Brice" and sends two former CIA assassins to eliminate her. Overhearing this, Farrell delays the assassins while warning Nina, who goes into hiding. This activity raises Pritchard's suspicions of Farrell's loyalty to Brice and himself, as well as his motives for attempting to disrupt the coverup.

Farrell convinces Hesselman to delay the photo enhancement by confiding to him that he and Atwell were in love and it will be him who is seen if the photo is cleared up. The CID begins a search of the Pentagon on grounds that "Yuri" is somewhere in the building. Farrell eludes the search and tells Hesselman that Brice killed Atwell. Believing that Farrell is delusional, Hesselman informs Pritchard about what he has told him. Hesselman is then killed by Pritchard. Knowing that Farrell has a printout of the gift registry data connecting him to Atwell, Brice improvises a different story: Pritchard, who is gay, killed Atwell out of jealousy of Brice's relationship with her. The devastated Pritchard commits suicide and, when guards break in, Brice identifies Pritchard as "Yuri", concluding the search for the spy.

Farrell quietly sends the printout by courier to the Director of the CIA, an enemy of Brice, then leaves the Pentagon as the finished image enhancement of the photograph positively reveals Farrell as Atwell's lover. Later, Farrell is picked up by two men while sitting despondently at Atwell's grave, and they begin to interrogate him about why things were so "poorly handled".

It is revealed that Farrell is actually "Yuri", a member of the KGB Illegals Program passing as an American and working as a high level mole inside the Pentagon. The KGB ordered Farrell to seduce Brice's mistress to gather intelligence from her. Farrell's handler, his landlord, tells "Yuri" that America is no longer safe for him and that it is time for him to return to the Soviet Union. Revealing that he genuinely loved Susan Atwell, Farrell refuses and tells his handlers that he is finished being a spy, before leaving their safehouse and going on the run.

Cast

Production

Writing

The screenplay is based on Kenneth Fearing's 1946 novel The Big Clock.

Filming

Exteriors were shot on location in Baltimore, Annapolis, Arlington, Washington, D.C., and Auckland, New Zealand, between April 1986 and June 1986. The film is dedicated to the memory of its director of photography John Alcott who died after principal photography had wrapped in July 1986, over a year prior to the film's eventual release.

Music

The film features original music by Academy Award-winning composer Maurice Jarre. The title song, "No Way Out," was performed by Paul Anka.

Reception

Box office

The film debuted at number 2 at the US box office after Stakeout with $4.3 million.[2] The film's budget was an estimated $15 million; its total U.S. gross was $35.5 million.[3]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critics consensus states: "Roger Donaldson's modern spin on the dense, stylish suspense films of the 1940s features fine work from Gene Hackman and Sean Young, as well as the career-making performance that made Kevin Costner a star."[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[6]

Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "truly labyrinthine and ingenious."[7] Richard Schickel of Time wrote, "Viewers who arrive at the movie five minutes late and leave five minutes early will avoid the setup and payoff for the preposterous twist that spoils this lively, intelligent remake of 1948's The Big Clock."[8] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post wrote, "The film makes such good use of Washington and builds suspense so well that it transcends a plot bordering on ridiculous."[9]

See also

References
  1. Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5
  2. "Stakeout' Ranks No. 1 In Box-Office Sales". The New York Times. September 2, 1987. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
  3. "No Way Out (1987)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  4. "No Way Out". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  5. "No Way Out Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  6. "Find CinemaScore" (Type "No Way Out" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  7. Ebert, Roger (August 14, 1987). "No Way Out". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  8. Schickel, Richard (17 August 1987). "Cinema: Hot Films, Unhappy Endings". Time. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  9. Thomson, Desson (August 14, 1987). "No Way Out". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
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