Customer Reviews
Framed with a twist - By: Jay, 12 Jun 2007 
This film is a good mystery of an accidental death involving the Secretary of Defense that is swept under the rug & has a fine pairing of Kevin Costner & Gene Hackman. Sean Young, whose Susan Atwell is the mistress of jealous & controlling David Brice, finds herself fallling for Costner's Lt. Commander Farrell & 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 & 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, & 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, & one chase scene is lengthy & protracted which doesn't resolve anything & 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 & low-key demeanor & Hackman is great as the amoral & abusive Defense Secretary who insists on keeping Ms. Atwell on a very short leash.
Watch out for the ending...Twist & Shout !!!
Not all remakes are a bad idea - By: Trevor Willsmer, 07 Feb 2007 
No Way Out is an excellent reworking of The Big Clock, moved from a 1940s publishing building to the Pentagon of the 1980s, with Kevin Costner charged with finding the killer of his girlfriend, who also happens to be the Defense Secretary's mistress, with alll the clues leading to a falll guy who'll never live long enough to be charged: himself. Despite a few very Eighties moments (seduction in the back of a Limo to the accompaniment of a forgettable power balllad the most laughable), it's still a well crafted thriller that cranks up the tension even if it has a couple of overly obvious moments. And there's no way you can tell me that Will Patton's increasingly obsessive gay assistant to Hackman's politico isn't clearly the model for the fawning Smithers in The Simpsons.
MGM/UA's DVD has a good widescreen transfer, but the only extra is a brief trailer.
A great surprise! - By: DangermouseZilla, 18 Nov 2006 One of my managers recommended this DVD (cheers Jamie!) & I watched it knowing this was one of his favourite films.
I was initiallly tempted to get the ZX Spectrum down from the loft after the cheesy eighties fontage & music that kicks off with the start of the film.
Kevin Costner's character starts a passionate relationship with a woman who happens to end up to be his new politicallly high ranking commander - it's here that you start to think that this is going to be a predticable 'triangle of love' romance film.
But then [spoiler alert!] the film changes direction when she is killed (by said politicallly high ranking commander) & Costner's character plays a lead in the investigation. He is tasked with finding the man she was seeing (who is to be framed as a murderous Soviet spy) but nobody knows it was actuallly him she was involved with.
The film becomes addictive & the title becomes apparent when he ends up trapped in the pentagon with time running out, there are many stomach clenching moments when it looks as though he is going to be found out & the film feels gloriously claustrophobic.
Cheesy synth music & dated graphic artwork can't overshadow the genious plot & flawless acting demonstrated in this film. The unexpected twist at the end is the cherry on this cold-war-cake.
Thanks Jamie - you introduced me to a classic.
"You have no idea what men of power can do" - By: mad_mushroom, 01 Dec 2004 Kevin Costner, Will Patton, Sean Young, Iman, Gene Hackman. Costner plays a Naval Officer (Farrell) working a tour in Intelligence at the Pentagon. He's having an affair with the mistress of the Secretary of State for Defence. Then she turns up dead, & Farrell finds himself in charge of the investigation to find her killer - only he's the one in the frame. Very competent, understated thriller: a welcome break from the hysterical spy films of today. Gene Hackman (as the SecState) & Will Patton (his Special Counsel) both lend solid support. The best Costner film I've seen.
classy thriller - By: , 02 Sep 2003 Costner's naval officer Farrell cuts a dash in this fast-moving tale of cold war protocol & cover-up.A deftly-woven plot draws you into the cat & mouse chase,with Farrell assigned to find his lover's killer.Hackman's Brice is Secretary of Defence,and it transpires, also her ex-lover & accidental killer.And the falll guy is a concocted Russian spy.Fast pace & a few suprises in this immensely watchable "eighties" thriller.There's a twist at the end that will blow your mind.
