No Way Out

Awesome movie. Did not see it as a kid so went back to it now years later. Despite some crapping on it in recent comments, I think it is still pretty damn solid, esp considering it was shot in 1986. Wild plot twist in final scene.

This movie was a pretty taut thriller. Not 100% if "taut" applies here but assume so because it's only used to describe good thrillers. This took the usual turns until the last 5 minutes at which point I exclaimed WHAT to myself, alone on a futon, questioning my life at that moment as well as what just happened on screen. A quick read of its Wiki page cleared up the out of nowhere ending to the movie but failed to answer the other question. I'll keep looking.

Double and triple spy plots.

I can't remember the last time that a single movie got so many stellar and terrible reviews. In a sense I get it - while this movie was probably flawed in several ways (and much of it didn't age well because the technology changed so fast) there are a few things to really like about it. I'll be honest - I thought that I had the movie figured out. And for much of it I did.... just not all of it. I was really mad at myself later on, and I loved that feeling of being punched in the face by a movie. I did see a quote about this movie that is probably true (and I am paraphrasing here): it is better than it has to be but probably not as good as it ought to be. After the movie ended I realized that I had enjoyed it but thought that it could have been a classic. Some of the stuff in the latter third of the movie (before the final scene) was just plain goofy.

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It takes quite a while to get going and the film is firmly rooted in the 80s, not just from a storyline perspective, but also in terms of its production. The only meaningful female role is poorly developed, although Young does her best with what she has and the relationship between her and Costner feels forced. The score is also dreadful. But once the main plot kicks in, this becomes an intriguing conspiracy thriller as Costner attempts to stay one step ahead of the investigation he is heading. Hackman is surprisingly low-key here, but Will Patton as his right-hand man and Costner's main antagonist is good value. It is also a film that is defined by its great ending, a scene that is surprisingly low-key in its delivery, but works extremely well in the context of the overall film. It's a shame that repeat viewings don't really offer much to reevaluate characters and plot points as a result but it still makes for a clever resolution.

I enjoyed this thriller very much. It takes 45 minutes for the proper plot to start, which by modern standards is an eternity. And some moments feel contrived (government officials wanting to murder people in broad daylight; a building search...) but I don't mind it in the context the time it was made.