a5c7b9f00b Commander Tom Farrell of the US Navy is hired to work for Secretary of Defense David Brice after being introduced by Scott Pritchard, Brice's General Counsel and Farrell's former college mate. At that meeting at a ball, Tom also meets the seductive Susan Atwell, the two who embark on a relationship which blossoms into love on both sides. It isn't until they fall in love that Susan discloses to Tom that she is Brice's kept mistress. When Brice discovers that Susan is seeing another unknown man (Tom), Brice accidentally kills her in a fit of jealous rage. In an effort to protect Brice against being charged for murder, Pritchard devises a plan that they will pin Susan's murder on a suspected but unsubstantiated Soviet spy, code named Yuri, who would have used her to gain intelligence into US military secrets. Yuri is to be whoever was Susan's lover, who they are unaware of is Tom. When they hand the case to Tom to investigate, they do not tell him that Brice was actually the one who killed her. During the investigation, Tom has to protect himself against anyone who may find out that he was Susan's lover and thus the suspected Yuri while finding out who really did kill Susan, which may be difficult if only because of Pritchard's goal to protect Brice at any and all cost, no matter who gets in the way.
David Brice, the Secretary of Defense is feuding with a powerful Senator over a project that Brice wants to discontinue which the Senator wants to push through and Brice knows that the Senator will the Director of the CIA whom he has in his pocket to get an edge on Brice. So Brice has Tom Farrell a Naval Intelligence officer assigned to him to help combat the Director. Farrell upon arriving in Washington hooks up with Susan Atwell a woman whom he had a brief liaison with when he was in Washington a few months ago. He doesn't know that Atwell is Brice's mistress as well. When Brice learns that she's been seeing someone else kills her. Now to find the man she's been seeing so that he could not tell anyone about her and Brice, Scott Pritchard, Brice's confidant suggests that they claim that Yuri, a Russian spy whom some people believe is an urban legend killed her. So the search commences, Farrell tries to find a way to get Brice to stop the search before they find him cause he knows Pritchard plans to kill the guy when they find him.
Based upon the 1948 Ray Milland mystery/thriller "The Big Clock", "No Way Out" is a tense, high-octane film which centres around the pentagon in Washington D.C.<br/><br/>Kevin Costner is Navy Commander Tom Farrell, newly recruited to the staff of Defence Secretary David Bryce (Gene Hackman), it is his job to act as liaison between that office and the intelligence community. Things really heat up when Secretary Bryce and his right-hand man attempt to cover up the death of the former's mistress. Commander Farrell's personal involvement with the woman makes things all the more complex.<br/><br/>Roger Donaldson has delivered a suspenseful 80's thriller just the way they ought to be. Small doses of sex and violence are strengthened by some terrific, nerve racking chase sequences and a superb plot which contains enough twists and counter-twists to keep the audience well and truly entertained. Add to this the strong cast (which includes Sean Young, Will Patton and George Dzundza), professional editing and a great keyboard score from Maurice Jarre and you have yourself a very worthwhile 114 minutes.<br/><br/>Great value for the attentive movie-goer who craves action and suspense.<br/><br/>Saturday, April 2, 1994 - T.V.
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.
In thriller terms it's close to irresistible and enormously entertaining. And the movie's lack of weight is part of what makes it work, part of its gripping purity. What this movie, which as a political thriller has more in common with "Three Days of the Condor" or "Seven Days in May" than "All the President's Men," has going for it is a great premise: the mainspring of this big clock is built to run.