No Way Out (1987)

In Australian director Roger Donaldson's suspenseful, twisting political thriller - the neo-noir action film was an update of the 1946 Kenneth Fearing potboiler novel The Big Clock, originally adapted for the big screen as the suspenseful The Big Clock (1948) that was set in NYC and starred Ray Milland and Charles Laughton. For this film, the screen story and screenplay were created by Robert Garland.

Its plot themes included murder, a secret affair and semi-love triangle, political intrigue, suspicions of a Russian KGB mole, an innocent man wrongly-accused on a manhunt for himself, and an intense cover-up, with an out-of-the-blue, slightly preposterous plot twist to conclude the film.

Original music in the film was scored by Maurice Jarre. At a budget of $15 million, it successfully grossed $35.5 million (domestic revenue). Its tagline asked: "Is it a Crime of Passion or an Act of Murder?"

• under the title credits in the film's opening, a lengthy backward tracking shot began at Capitol Hill and reversed itself all the way out of the city, passing by the Pentagon, and reaching a suburban safehouse in a wooded area; it was the location of an interrogation-debriefing of Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner in a star-making role) by two associates (Contra # 1 and # 2), questioning him about his interactions with his boss, Secretary of Defense David Brice (Gene Hackman)

Debriefing-Interrogation of Navy Lt. Commander Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) by Two Operatives (Contras)

• Farrell stood up, and revealed a bloody, bandaged right forearm and blood splatter on his uniform before the flashback began (the film's storyline); the opening scene was bookended by the concluding scene; Farrell explained how six months earlier in Washington DC, he was introduced to Secretary of Defense Brice, by Brice's own scheming, ruthless yet ultra-loyal aide General Counsel Scott Pritchard (Will Patton), his former college buddy
• Pritchard had invited naval attache Lt. Cmdr. Tom Farrell to attend a Presidential Inaugural Ball in DC (at Christmastime) at the Omni Shoreham Hotel; Farrell met up with Pritchard (who claimed about his boss: "I'd lay down my life for him"), who then introduced Farrell to his boss - an abrupt and unfriendly Sec. of State David Brice
• during the evening's ball, Farrell kept noticing a high-class mistress-escort Susan Atwell (Sean Young) wearing a low-cut evening gown, and flirted with her; he ordered a "Stoli" at the bar (a clue to his Russian connections) and momentarily was startled when she asked: "Are you one of them?" (she was referring to the political "hypocrites" in the room)
• at the start of a torrid, hot and passionate evening, after some small talk at the bar, he suggested: "Let's get outta here"; she replied: "My date's not gonna like that very much" to which he replied: "But, what the hell? His wife'll be delighted"; Farrell was not aware that she was Brice's date-mistress

Sex in the Back of a Chauffeured Limousine with Susan Atwell (Sean Young)

• to the tune of Paul Anka's "No Way Out" - the title song, Farrell seduced her into having sexual intercourse with him in the back seat of a moving stretch limousine (chauffeured by an inquisitive driver named Bill (Gordon Needham/Boyd) watching them through the rear-view mirror) during a tour of DC's monuments and on the way to a Georgetown apartment; he kissed her, unzipped her dress to reveal a black bra, touched her breast's nipple with two fingers, and then pulled off her dress; she offered him her panties; from the car, a phallic-related view of the erect and tall Washington Monument passed by; he then unfastened her lacy garter straps as she reached to help undress him before having sex; post-coitus, he introduced himself: "My name's Tom," and she replied: "I'm Susan"

Susan to Her Apartment Friend Nina: "We need your bed"

• at her party girl friend Nina Beka's (Iman) apartment door, she stood naked after removing her fur coat as she waved goodbye, laughed, and borrowed Nina's apartment bed for the evening: "We need your bed"
• the next morning, Commander Farrell was dropped off by taxi at the airport, with a sad goodbye from Susan; he shipped out for the Philippines on the USS Billings battleship in pursuit of a Russian sub; he received the Navy Cross and became a national hero after rescuing Seaman Dufor (Peter Bell) on the "forward lookout" during a fierce nighttime storm

Secretary of Defense David Brice (Gene Hackman)

Brice's Gen. Counsel Scott Pritchard (Will Patton)

• in the meantime, Defense Secretary David Brice was involved in a political feud and ongoing dispute with Senator William 'Billy' Duvall (Howard Duff) serving in the Armed Services Committee, who supported the continuation of a controversial "phantom submarine" project; Brice protested that the military had spent $5 billion over 5 years on a prototype that could evade sonar, and wanted to terminate Congressional funding for the expensive flop: ("The Phantom sub is a sinkhole"); Brice was concerned that the powerful Senator was allied with the current CIA Director Marshall (Fred Dalton Thompson), who would use their combined political clout to push forward the project; in order to combat Senator Duvall, Brice advised Pritchard to bring Farrell back to Washington, due to his experience in naval intelligence: ("We could use a hero. Get him here, will you?")
• meanwhile, Farrell was in a noisy dive bar in Manilla, with topless dancers wearing thongs behind him, as he attempted to call Susan from a payphone - she answered but then hung up; it was revealed that she was in her apartment's bedroom about to have sex with Sec. of State Brice - she was his long-time mistress!
• upon his return to DC to work at the Pentagon, Farrell was dropped off at a residential apartment, where he met the building's manager, his ex-landlord, who was an aspiring painter; the manager-landlord provided Farrell with his mail and would continue to make available for him his former residence [Note: Later, it was revealed in the closing sequence that Farrell's foreign landlord was his handler - a third Russian interrogator.]

Farrell With Susan Upon His Return From Battleship Service

Susan Taking a Polaroid Photo of Farrell

Farrell Prematurely Removing Polariod Photo Backing

• soon after, Farrell also paid a visit to Susan at her place, and she was overjoyed to see him again; he carried her up the stairs to her bedroom where they quickly began undressing for sex and she took a Polaroid photo of him on the bed; however, he removed the paper backing too soon before it fully developed: ("I think I did this way too early"); he crumpled up the picture and threw it aside
• the next day, Pritchard led Farrell to Brice's office, where he was briefed on his duties - he would serve as Brice's personal liaison, supervised by Pritchard, to serve as an intelligence agent to monitor the activities of the CIA (regarding the submarine project), in the hopes of terminating the boondoggle; Farrell was informed that Senator Duvall in Congress would resist, and it was worrisome that Duvall was connected to the CIA; Farrell was to acquire the "raw data" from the CIA upon which the spending decisions were made
• during his tour of the computer operations center in the Pentagon, Farrell met his good friend Dr. Sam Hesselman (George Dzundza), a disabled Pentagon computer IT specialist
• in Susan's bathroom vanity area during their continuing affair, while she prepared to go out to a black-tie reception to honor the Ambassador (Terrance Cooper) of New Zealand (attended by the Brices), Farrell noticed an expensive gold jewelry box and learned it was a gift from her lover; she said he had received it as a present from the foreign minister of the Moroccan government, and she divulged that her prestigious boyfriend was Secretary of State Brice; when Farrell responded: "You know I work for Brice?", she answered: "That makes two of us"
• Farrell also attended the party and whisked Susan away for a romantic weekend together at a B&B, where they pretended to be a loving couple - Mr. and Mrs. Smythe; once they returned to her apartment, Susan had to help Tom exit from a back entrance to avoid being seen by Brice, although Brice caught a glimpse of an unidentified male figure and suspected that Susan had another lover
• Brice went into a jealous rage and brutally slapped Susan when questioning her about cheating with another man: ("Who were you with this weekend?"), to which she replied: ("Why worry? There's plenty left"); when Brice struck her after she called him a "pig," she toppled backwards - in slow-motion - from her upstairs balcony onto a glass dining room table on the first floor; shockingly, she turned up dead
• rather than allow Brice to confess to the manslaughter crime, Brice's own loyal General Counsel Scott Pritchard offered to clean up the crime scene - where he found an unclear film negative from a Polaroid picture taken of Farrell by Susan (the one he had discarded); Pritchard also schemed and advised Brice to initiate a top-secret cover-up - it was recommended that Brice blame the crime on a bogus, never-seen, mythically-rumored Russian KGB mole/spy code-named "Yuri" who was seen leaving Atwell's apartment [Note - Spoiler: Little did the two know that Atwell's other lover was actually a KGB spy.]
• Farrell was given "direct orders" to investigate and discover Atwell's secret lover and supposed DC murderer - his first indication that Susan was dead - and it was a devastating blow to him, since he truly loved her [Note: It would be a bogus investigation since he was actually the suspect!] Brice described the scandalous problem to Farrell - that Susan was the mistress of both Brice and "Yuri": "Do you realize the magnitude of the scandal? The Secretary of Defense and a Soviet agent sharing the favors of a murdered whore"
• the photo negative was planted as evidence by Pritchard, to be found by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID); it was taken to Dr. Hesselman's Pentagon lab for computer enhancement (a process that would take a few days); fortunately, Farrell was able to have his old friend Dr. Hesselman delay the photo-enhancement efforts on the processing
• Pritchard also attempted to silence Susan's friend Nina, who knew of both affairs, but only divulged Brice's presence; Farrell learned of Pritchard's plan to order two U.S. Army Special Forces assassins to kill Nina, and helped her escape; Farrell also furiously raced against time to find blame elsewhere during an investigation that he knew could falsely implicate him as Atwell's killer and expose his real identity; he only had a few hours to name the killer before a Polaroid negative found at Atwell's place could place him there and make him a suspect
• with Hesselman's help, Farrell was able to raid a State Department computer registry to provide a printout of registered gifts to US officials by foreign governments; Farrell asked Hesselman to register the Moroccan 'gold jewelry box' gift to Brice, in order to identify it as a clear link between Brice and Atwell
• Pritchard became suspicious when Hesselman knew of Farrell's suspicions about Brice, his involvement with Atwell and the incriminating gift, and silenced him by shooting him dead
• in one of the last startling scenes, Farrell went on the run and ended up in Brice's office, where he successfully threatened to expose Brice as the actual killer by providing a print-out of the damning gift registry; Pritchard entered and directed the accusations toward "Yuri" as Hesselman's (and Susan's) murderer - and then pinned the murders on Farrell - by coincidentally deducing that Farrell was "Yuri"!
  • "Tom is the man who saw you at Susan's. He's known about you all along, isn't that right? Do you know what that means, David? If Commander Farrell is the man who was with Miss Atwell, then Commander Farrell is the man who killed Miss Atwell. And we know that the man who killed Miss Atwell is Yuri. Therefore, Commander Farrell IS Yuri, quod erat demonstrandum"
• feeling threatened, Pritchard - with his gun at Farrell's throat - then boldy asserted: "You have no idea what men of power can do"; but then Pritchard's superior Brice decided on a different strategy - he shifted the blame to accuse Pritchard of being "Yuri" - and the fall guy for the murder of Atwell; Brice planned to claim that homosexual Pritchard was "fiercely jealous" of Brice's relationship with Susan, and therefore killed her
• devastated by the betrayal by his boss and the new accusation, Pritchard committed suicide (he shot himself in the head) in their presence in the office; Farrell was offered a deal by Brice to keep everything secret, but didn't accept it
• Brice informed investigators that Pritchard had been exposed as "Yuri"; Farrell sent the registry printout to the CIA director, and was able to escape before the Polaroid negative revealed him with Atwell
• as the flashback ended, the film returned to Farrell's detention and debriefing at a suburban safehouse with the Soviet operatives (a third agent also emerged from behind a one-way mirror; it was his handler - also his landlord); the devious trick-surprise ending revealed Farrell's true loyalty (to the KGB) as the fabled, never-seen mole/spy 'Yuri'; Farrell was innocent of murdering high-class mistress-escort Susan Atwell, but he really was a KGB sleeper agent who had infiltrated the Pentagon
• Farrell-'Yuri' had been commissioned to seduce Atwell in order to blackmail Brice and learn secrets of US intelligence; Farrell was criticized for his "poorly-handled" relationship with Atwell. Farrell argued back: "I did what I was told! You wanted me to be her lover. I was her lover"

The Plot Twist Reveal in the Tacked-On Ending: Lt. Cmdr. Farrell (aka Yuri) At the Debriefing with Soviet Officials, Including His Handler - His Building Manager-Landlord

• the 3rd Soviet official (his landlord) spoke to Farrell (Farrell's Russian name: Yevgeny Alexeyevich) - in Russian, seen in English subtitles: "Couldn't you have managed this better?" Farrell was told that it wasn't possible for him to remain in the US, and that he must return to Russia: "This bizarre incident has given them their 'Yuri.'"; but Farrell was reluctant and refused to be a Soviet hero: "I came here. I thought I owed you that. But you can't make me go back"
• after telling them that he was ready to quit being "Yuri," Farrell was allowed to leave, although his handler stated that he would be back: "Let him go. He will return. Where else does he have to go?"
• the film concluded with a claustrophobic spy satellite-view of Farrell/Yuri getting into his car and driving off to an ambiguous and uncertain future