No Way Out

This film is a taut thriller and has a very good pairing of Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman in a story of a cover-up and murder. Sean Young is the tragic figure who falls for Costner and sets in motion the wheels that make this picture one of the best of its type. Plot twists and suspense are highlighted by great acting, and as the cover-up unravels, Costner finds himself in increasing danger in the halls of the Pentagon. Will Patton and George Dzunda are solid in support of the leads although Patton is a bit over the top as Hackman's attack dog. This fine film is marred by an ending that doesn't connect with the film's plot or pulse and gives the picture an awkward, unsatisfying conclusion. Costner is the hero but it is Hackman who makes this picture as good as it is.

There are only a fistful movies I gave 9 points. This is one them. After watching it I immediately had an itch to watch a sequel (regrettably impossible due to the story line). Didn't actually want it to stop and was sad that it ended. (True for just a few other movies, like for example Dr. Zhivago or 12 Monkeys) When I checked the IMDb - rating composition to find out why this movie is so grotesquely underrated, I asserted that the IMDb Staff gave 8 points, anyway. (Phew!) One of the very few US-thrillers, the end of which I wasn't able to predict. Gene Hackman and Kevin Costner are habitually brilliant, Will Patton deserves an Oscar as the best supporting actor in my book.

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.

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.

It takes quite a while to get going and the film is firmly rooted in the 80s, not just from a storyline perspective, but also in terms of its production. The only meaningful female role is poorly developed, although Young does her best with what she has and the relationship between her and Costner feels forced. The score is also dreadful. But once the main plot kicks in, this becomes an intriguing conspiracy thriller as Costner attempts to stay one step ahead of the investigation he is heading. Hackman is surprisingly low-key here, but Will Patton as his right-hand man and Costner's main antagonist is good value. It is also a film that is defined by its great ending, a scene that is surprisingly low-key in its delivery, but works extremely well in the context of the overall film. It's a shame that repeat viewings don't really offer much to reevaluate characters and plot points as a result but it still makes for a clever resolution.