Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Will Patton, George Dzundza, Sean Young, Iman, Fred Dalton Thompson, Howard Duff, Jason Bernard
Navy Commander Tom Farrell (Costner) finds himself in a labyrinthine pickle in No Way Out. He is placed in charge of a sham cover-up investigation of his lover's murder, while knowing all along his boss, Secretary of Defense David Brice (Hackman) committed the crime. Yet, for many reasons, Farrell cannot tell the truth and must appear to go along with the cover-up without implicating himself or revealing what he knows. You find out why later, and it makes sense. This duplicity is at the heart of No Way Out, and this elevates the film from a standard thriller to one with big human stakes.
Farrell first meets Susan Atwell (Young) at a Washington party. They connect immediately and are soon having sex in the back seat of a limo. Farrell knows she is Brice's mistress and one night witnesses the jealous Brice entering her apartment. Farrell learns the next morning Susan is dead. What to do? Brice's right-hand man, the slippery and manipulative Scott Pritchard (Patton), has an idea: Start a sham investigation to sniff out a fictional Soviet agent who has infiltrated the Pentagon and murdered Susan while somehow keeping the CIA, FBI, and Washington, DC police out of it. Tom while keeping the truth to himself, is put in charge of the "investigation", but for fear of implicating himself, carries out his duties. But, evidence comes to light such as a Polaroid negative and credit card charges which might indirectly implicate him. How does he slow the revealing of that evidence while appearing to be complicit with the investigation?
Costner performs a dicey double act which makes him both sympathetic and an accomplice at the same time. He is the closest thing to a hero in the film, but is he one? Costner provides at least something of a moral center, while Hackman drinks heavily and ponders how he got himself into this mess; doing so with great Hackmanesque conviction. The wild card is Pritchard, who is fiercely loyal to Brice to a fault and perhaps to his own peril. He is an amoral bureaucrat who only wants to find a "killer" and cement his status in the eyes of his idol Brice. Or does he have ulterior motives as well?
No Way Out is directed by taut efficiency by Roger Donaldson. He finds ways to keep the tension ratcheted up while keeping the moving parts going even if you wonder if such a charade would even ben possible. At times, No Way Out becomes ludicrous, but everything points to a Big Reveal which isn't something concocted out of thin air. What is first seen as an absurd shot in the dark is closer to the truth than anyone in the movie even realizes. Except for one character.
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