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24 out of 31 people found the following review useful: Sleazy beginning, but good, 10 February 2000 Author: gagewyn from Gainesville, FL
No Way Out is a suspense movie set during the cold war. Political intrigue within the US government is the focus of the film. The politically powerful Brice accidentally kills his mistress. Things get out of hand and he decides to frame her other lover as a spy. He knows that she is seeing someone else but has no idea who. Farrel, her other lover, is the man assigned to her case. He realizes that the investigation will eventually expose him, and when the investigators begin using a computer to restore a partially developed polaroid of Farrel found in the dead girlÕs things he has a good idea of how much time he has. There are some tense moments as Farrel trys to expose Brice before he is caught. Also there are a string of neat twists at the end, which succeed in not being corny. This is worth your time. I definitely recommend it for fans of military suspense or cold war movies.
18 out of 21 people found the following review useful: A high-tech murder and cover-up thriller, 17 July 2005 Author: NewEnglandPat from Virginia
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.
21 out of 29 people found the following review useful: A brilliant cold war thriller that is as rivetting today as it was when it was made in 1987., 28 February 1999 Author: hariette surovell from new york city
"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.
17 out of 22 people found the following review useful: Clever thriller with excellent performances..., 21 December 2003 Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.
Kevin Costner stars in this stylish remake of THE BIG CLOCK, a 1948 film noir that starred Ray Milland and Charles Laughton. The setting has been changed from a publishing house to the Pentagon and the time period updated. Some extra plot twists have been added and it all adds up to riveting entertainment after a slow start.Costner romances Sean Young after a brief flirtation and then discovers she is the mistress of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (Gene Hackman). In a fit of jealousy, Hackman accidentally kills Young and then must concoct a plot to keep his identity as her lover a secret. He assigns Costner to lead the investigation and this leads to a suspenseful turn of events that has Costner caught in a net from which he has a hard time escaping. A series of suspenseful chases take place with some excellent camerawork following the chase by car and on foot. Only weakness here is the rather contrived ending which seems to have been added on for a final twist that is never quite convincing.Kevin Costner, looking spiffy in his smart Navy white uniform, does an excellent job as a desperate man realizing he must keep his own affair with the victim a secret. Gene Hackman is excellent too but it is Will Patton as his loyal henchman and protector who gives the film's most penetrating performance, especially when his diabolical nature is revealed.The first twenty-five minutes are much too slow in getting the story off the ground but once it does you'll want to stay tuned until the final denouement. One of the best thrillers produced in the '80s.
11 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Definitely underrated first-class thriller, 21 March 2007 Author: Zekarius from Gelsenkirchen, Germany
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.
15 out of 23 people found the following review useful: A pretty good government thriller with some nice twists..., 29 January 2004 Author: MovieAddict2009 from UK
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Having lived around the outskirts of Washington, D.C. myself, it's always a nice treat to watch a film that literally takes place right where I have stood, at one time or another. It's just very fun to know that a famous movie was shot where you once walked. (Although I now regret visiting the set of "101 Dalmations" in London--that's one story I don't often tell people with a smile on my face.)At the beginning of "No Way Out," we get to see Washington from above as the camera glides through the air, swerving and going around in circles, until we land inside a small interrogation room housing a convicted murderer (Kevin Costner), who is in fact innocent and has been framed. "When's he coming out?" he asks as he walks over to a one-way mirror and looks through the glass. Right as we start to think, "Whom is he talking to?" (Or "Does he mean Hackman?" if you've read anything about the film), we fall backwards in time and land in the same place some number of months earlier."No Way Out" is a government thriller about an officer wrongly accused of murder--when the Secretary of State himself is the culprit trying to avoid a scandal by launching a top-secret cover-up. Costner is the officer, and Gene Hackman is the Secretary of State. After meeting a beautiful young woman (Sean Young) at a party, Costner takes her into a limo and they have a quickie--before they even know each other's names. What's this got to do with anything? Why is my review so choppy and linear-challenged? We'll get there.The relationship between the two turns into a big romance until Costner is sent out to sea, where he saves a sailor from falling overboard and is praised in all the papers--where his girlfriend back home sees his face and is reminded of him. (Now she's the mistress of Hackman, by the way--that complicates matters quite a bit.)When he arrives back home, they go on a romantic getaway--but Hackman finds out and accidentally murders the girl while trying to get her to tell him the name of her lover. Ready to turn himself in, Hackman is persuaded by his gay friend to cover everything up and blame someone else. The gay man even goes and gets rid of the evidence himself--with pride, I might add. (It's like Mr. Burns and Smithers from "The Simpsons"--the latter loves the former, but the former is too powerful and naive to ever notice.)The clever twist in "No Way Out" is that Costner knows Hackman killed Young, but Hackman doesn't know that he knows that. (Get it?) As he runs around the Pentagon and other government establishments, the evidence starts to pile up against him--the negative off the back of a Polaroid camera, a few eyewitnesses who claim they saw a man outside Young's apartment the night of her murder, etc.The great thing about "No Way Out," and another factor that separates it from the rest of its kind, is something that's hard to explain to someone who hasn't seen the film. Essentially, no one knows who killed the girl--and Costner isn't placed under arrest straight away because no one has uncovered any evidence pointing towards him. As the negative off the back of the Polaroid is scanned through a computer and painstakingly altered to reveal the man's face on the photo, Costner runs around trying to eliminate evidence before anyone finds out. The photo will eventually reveal his own face, yes, but he has a number of hours until then to find the true evidence that convicts Hackman.This is a smart thriller with a few pleasant twists, particularly the very end. It's not a great movie by any means, but it's well-acted and solidly directed by Roger Donaldson, who also made last year's "The Recruit" with Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. The guy obviously likes government thrillers. This one is a lot more plausible than "The Recruit," too.4/5 stars.- John Ulmer
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: exciting and suspenseful, 24 May 2008 Author: disdressed12 from Canada
to me,this is a brilliant political/military suspense/thriller.it's starts off pretty quickly and just goes from there.there isn't a lot of time for character development in this movie,but the suspense and intrigue makes up for it.there are some great actors here,including Kevin Costner,Gene Hackman,and Will Patton.Costner and Hackmman are good,but Patton really impressed me here.George Dzunda also stars and his role is small,but i thought he was very good.i also liked Sean young.it's too bad we don't see her in that many movies.many people might say this is a formulaic movie,and that could be true,but there are bad formulaic movies and good formulaic movies.for me,this falls into the very good category.for one thing,it kept my attention the whole time and was very exciting.my vote for No Way Out:a 9/10
11 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Interesting!, 27 January 2004 Author: David from London
Saw this last night and suprisingly quite enjoyed it. A good story with lots of intrigue and suspence, descent performances and a clever twist at the end left me satisfied. Kevin Costner impressed me in the lead role which seemed to be tailer made for him and Gene Hackman who I rate highly as an actor produced his usual committed performance so overall worth a look.Rating: 7/10
14 out of 23 people found the following review useful: An Underrated Masterpiece !, 28 May 2005 Author: Mr_Vai from Eden
I don't think I can ever remember a movie quite like this. It has hooks in it that are so refreshing and unexpected. It has performances that are just brilliant. Moreover, it is a movie in which Kevin Costner looks at his most natural best. The story basically revolves around Costner's character trying to discover who killed his lover, before he is framed for it. Of course, he is trying to do this in a closed off Pentagon building while eyewitnesses are being brought in just to point out him. Of course, you have side stories going on everywhere. I don't want to give away any of the little switches or the big one. I will just say, that if you want to see a well done thriller, this is it. Great movie!
9 out of 16 people found the following review useful: exciting spy film, 2 April 1999 Author: helpless_dancer from Broken Bow, Oklahoma
The first hour of this movie was very slow, but when it kicked into gear it went all out. A high level Russian mole in the U.S. Government is being pursued throughout the film. The chase keeps narrowing down more and more drawing the government officials closer and closer to the culprit. The tension became almost unbearable as the mole was about to be trapped. A real nail biter with a super twist at the end. Well worth seeing.
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