The Big Easy (1987)

So much average

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Blistering performances.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Dennis Quaid , and Ellen Barkin star in this crime drama set in New Orleans, John Goodman also does a good job in here as well in a supporting role.. A cop is tracking a murder case,, possibly gang related, when he runs into a hard nosed female who is checking into police corruption, eventually things get steamy and they get intimate with each other,, he is eventually accused of taking bribes, and meanwhile the murders continue,, and the gangs insist that they had nothing to do with the murders that are taking place in the Big Easy. So our cop has to figure out who is behind all of the murders,, is it the gangs , or do we have a rogue cop going around killing people vigilante style.. very interesting movie,, well worth watching.

The Big Easy is directed by Jim McBride and written by Daniel Petrie Jr. It stars Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman and Ned Beatty. Music is scored by Brad Fiedel and cinematography by Affonso Beato.Remy McSwain (Quaid) is a slightly corrupt New Orleans cop, who whilst investigating the murder of a mob man, finds himself under scrutiny by assistant district attorney Anne Osborne (Barkin). The waters start to become muddied when the pair begin to have a passionate affair, just as the can opens and worms spill out everywhere.It's an odd film at times, a bit too jovial to be considered proper neo-noir, and Quaid's Southern accent takes some getting used too. It's also nearly derailed in quality as conventionality dominates the last quarter of film.Yet judged on its own thriller terms it entertains well enough whilst also having some neat technical touches to help it along. Petrie's script contains spiky dialogue and a number of bravura sequences light up the otherwise standard crooked cop story.McBride dose good work on this, he opens his film up with a cracker of a camera tracker, and he makes good use of the New Orleans locations. He also has a good sense of prop choices to help the mood, none more so than with a scene involving Mardi Gras costumes, whilst he gets strength for the film by garnering tense and sexy performances out of Quaid and Barkin. Support actors also leave good marks, with Goodman as a cop colleague dominating the screen and Charles Ludlam almost stealing the film as McSwain's dry and near sleazy lawyer. Soundtrack, too, is well thought out, with the Cajun flavours spicing up the sweaty Orleans stew. 7/10

This movie was an unexpected delight. In general, I don't like thrillers or suspense, so I braced myself for something that would not be to my taste. Was I ever wrong! The moment the opening credits came on with that wonderful music playing, I knew I would love this film. Although I didn't meet anybody in New Orleans who talked like Dennis Quaid did in this movie, and his portrayal of Rennie McSwain came off as something of a caricature, I still found him extremely enjoyable to watch and as a leading man, he was as sexy as a romantic hero can be. Ellen Barkin was great as the leading lady. The suspense part of the plot was perhaps the weakest part, but the romantic storyline was perfect. The music was so great, it made everything work. Yes, the movie makers made some mistakes with their geography, but that was completely forgivable, as the overall film was such a delight to watch. And few movies nowadays have such a great soundtrack as this movie has. A true delight, this will be a timeless classic.

The Bayou comes alive with Wiseguy bullets and romantic sparks in this occasionally smoldering romantic thriller, starring Dennis Quaid as a less than scrupulous New Orleans detective investigating a series of local Mafia murders, while having both his conscience and his libido aroused by sultry District Attorney Ellen Barkin. The familiar details of Southern vice and depravity are shaded with plenty of Cajun color and brought to life by a supporting cast of offbeat characters, but underneath all the incidental scenery is a routine action scenario not far enough removed from any other conventional Hollywood cop show. Even worse: the very real erotic tension between the two lovers is allowed to fizzle after only one kiss, transforming tough, resourceful DA Barkin into little more than a lovestruck puppy dog and thereby all but eliminating her from the plot. It never shows enough ambition to qualify as a bad movie, but too many wasted opportunities can't help but leave an aftertaste of mild disappointment.