No Way Out (1987)

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Writers:

Kenneth Fearing (novel)
Robert Garland (screen story)

Release Date:

14 August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Mystery

Tagline:

Is it a crime of passion, or an act of treason?

Plot:

A coverup and witchhunt occur after a politician accidentally kills his mistress.

Plot Keywords:

Photograph | Crimes Of Passion | Claustrophobic | Government Corruption | KGB

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Lt. Cmdr. Tom Farrell
Gene Hackman	...	Defense Secretary David Brice
Sean Young	...	Susan Atwell
Will Patton	...	Scott Pritchard
Howard Duff	...	Senator William 'Billy' Duvall
George Dzundza	...	Sam Hesselman
Jason Bernard	...	Major Donovan
Iman	...	Nina Beka
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	CIA Director Marshall
Leon Russom	...	Kevin O'Brien
Dennis Burkley	...	Mate
Marshall Bell	...	Contra #1
Chris D.	...	Contra #2
Michael Shillo	...	Schiller
Nicholas Worth	...	Cup Breaker

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:14 | USA:R (certificate #28267) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | West Germany:12 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Annapolis, Maryland, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The big red bumper sticker on the back of Sam Hessleman's wheelchair seat reads: "Of Course I'm drunk, I'm no stunt driver!"

Goofs:

Continuity: During the opening flyover of the Pentagon, both North and South parking lots are relatively empty; during the closing flyover, both lots are full though only a few minutes of interrogation time have passed.

Quotes:

Susan Atwell: It's David Brice, Secretary of Defense. Satisfied?
Tom Farrell: You know I work for Brice?
Susan Atwell: I guess that makes two of us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Battlestar Galactica: Six Degrees of Separation (#1.7)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

TWISTIN' U.S.A.

Glossy Pentagon thriller and cover-up

This film is a good mystery of an accidental death involving the Secretary of Defense that is swept under the rug and has a fine pairing of Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. Sean Young, whose Susan Atwell is the mistress of jealous and controlling David Brice, finds herself falling for Costner's Lt. Commander Farrell and hopes for a way out of her affair with Brice but doesn't quite summon the resolve to break it off with him until he violently confronts her about spending a weekend with another man and demands to know that man's identity. Brice's Doberman-on-a-leash, Scott Pritchard, takes over at this point by orchestrating the cover-up, contaminating the crime scene, tampering with evidence to absolve Brice of any blame, and to implicate a phantom Russian mole in the young woman's accident. Most of the film takes place in the Pentagon, where Farrell is charged with solving the mystery of what happened in Ms. Atwell's apartment that night. There are a couple of goons assigned to keep an eye on Farrell, and one chase scene is lengthy and protracted which doesn't resolve anything and seems rather pointless. Farrell's real threat is the evil, calculating Pritchard, in a part that is a bit overdone by Will Patton. Costner makes a fine hero, with his clean-cut looks and low-key demeanor and Hackman is great as the amoral and abusive Defense Secretary who insists on keeping Ms. Atwell on a very short leash.