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No Way Out

year 1987decade 80sdirector Roger Donaldson

114 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits ·

Kevin Costner Tom Farrell
Gene Hackman David Brice
Sean Young Susan Atwell
Will Patton Scott Pritchard
Howard Duff Senator Duvall
George Dzundza Sam Hesselman
Jason Bernard Major Donovan
Iman Nina Beka

No Way Out | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennessey
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

What’s Aged the Best?

The twist; photograph countdown; chemistry; political rivalry; score; getaway; collaborators; Scott

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:59Read transcript
  • A powerful man maintaining a mistress in a Virginia townhouse is praised as an effective movie premise, with joking disagreement about calling it aged best.
  • Opening on an intense interrogation before jumping six months backward works here, despite objections that television has overused the device.
  • The landlord’s revelation as Tom’s handler supplies a second twist.
  • The gradually resolving photograph serves as an effective countdown.
  • Costner and Young’s chemistry remains exceptionally strong.
  • The destructive rivalry between Congress and the executive branch still resonates.
  • Fred Dalton Thompson remains convincing as a military-industrial figure.
  • The ominous Washington synthesizer score works well.
  • Paying extra for an otherwise unavailable boat enables the Chesapeake getaway.
  • Costner’s loyalty to collaborators carries supporting performers into later films.
  • Scott’s patronizing demands for moral courage and calm remain entertaining.
  • The old-college-friends connection between Tom and Scott is memorable.
  • The henchmen’s awkward pursuit is funny enough to count as both a strength and a weakness.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Best twist of the 1980s–1990s; Russian spies are missed; Susan’s death timing; Patton as Joker

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:02Read transcript
  • Young is a singular screen presence whose unrealized career possibilities exceed a routine short run of stardom.
  • Killing Susan forty-five minutes in is an effective surprise, although contemporary reviews often spoiled it.
  • Tom might have saved Susan by leaving through the front door and forcing a confrontation with Brice.
  • This is proposed as the best twist of the 1980s and 1990s, ahead of The Sixth Sense, with later identity-reversal thrillers owing it a debt.
  • Old-fashioned Russian spies are missed as clear, readily understood movie antagonists.
  • Will Patton is imagined as an excellent Joker.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bryce betrays Scott in the office; the final twenty minutes

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:32Read transcript
  • The opening Washington party efficiently introduces Tom, Susan and Scott through flirtation and social maneuvering.
  • Tom’s Stoli order supplies a small clue, while Susan’s conspicuously long cigarette adds to their flirtation.
  • The limousine ride begins with Susan asking the driver to show them the monuments.
  • Susan commandeers Nina’s apartment and bed, offering her friend the limousine, fur coat and food.
  • Tom and Susan flirt while preparing for their second party.
  • The Manila strip-club sequence, including Wild Thing and a phone torn from the wall, is singled out enthusiastically.
  • Brice’s confrontation with Susan turns into her fatal fall.
  • Brice brings Scott the news that he has killed Susan, and Scott immediately constructs a plan.
  • Tom’s reaction to learning Susan is dead plays both as grief and, on rewatch, panic about his own exposure.
  • During the visit to Nina, Tom silently implores her not to reveal their connection, then prepares to use a vase against Scott.
  • The Washington car and running chase features impressive physical work from Costner.
  • The final pursuit, stairwell fight and confrontation in Brice’s office culminate in Brice betraying Scott.
  • The final revelation reframes Tom’s relationship with Susan as part of his assignment.
  • The office confrontation is the favored specific scene; another choice is the final twenty minutes, encompassing the Pentagon hunt and revelation.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

Credit-card records taking days

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:26Read transcript
  • Credit-card records taking days is the favored dated detail.
  • Other candidates are the Polaroid plot, absent street surveillance, slow phone-record searches, printers and early forensic testing; Russian agents are added.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Assassins; limo sex; spy conventions; underused Duff; audition allegation; detours; stereotypes; haircuts

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:11Read transcript
  • The supposedly elite assassins run awkwardly and look insufficiently formidable.
  • The limousine sex scene has corny music and unclear positioning.
  • The long-term embedded Russian-spy model feels dated relative to modern technological espionage, although Russian spying itself remains active.
  • Howard Duff is underused in a role lasting roughly a scene and a half.
  • Young’s reported account of Donaldson requiring her to expose herself at an audition is condemned.
  • The extended overseas rescue and Manila detour seems excessive for its narrative purpose, despite a defense of establishing Tom’s hero status.
  • The phantom-submarine subplot receives too little explanation for its importance.
  • Costner listing Russian authors is proposed as a weakness, with an immediate objection.
  • Scott participates in an outdated stereotype of the hysterical queer villain, even though the performance remains entertaining.
  • The supposedly sexy film has awkward haircuts for Susan, Tom, Scott and party guests.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Pentagon checkerboard chase; nighttime focus shift; party triangulation

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:14Read transcript
  • Costner running along the Pentagon’s checkerboard hallway is a striking image.
  • The nighttime focus shift between Hackman and Costner is effective.
  • Party photography triangulates Susan, Brice and Tom, then reveals Brice’s mounting anxiety.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

The assassins; Scott’s gym murder

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:18Read transcript
  • The assassins seem too unimpressive for Scott’s operation; more physically imposing performers are imagined.
  • Scott shooting the wheelchair user in the Pentagon gym feels implausibly conspicuous; a staged accident or use of henchmen is suggested instead.

Apex Mountain

Washington film noir; pirate-uniformed bellboy witnesses

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:46Read transcript
  • Costner is rejected; Young’s earlier Stripes/Blade Runner period is preferred.
  • Movie mistresses is proposed but left unresolved after considering several alternatives.
  • Hackman is rejected.
  • Washington film noir receives agreement.
  • Russian-submarine material loses to The Hunt for Red October.
  • Dzundza murders is proposed against Basic Instinct without a settled choice.
  • The Omni Shoreham Hotel is nominated.
  • Patton’s peak is assigned to Remember the Titans.
  • Polaroids are rejected in favor of Memento.
  • Pirate-uniformed bellboys serving as federal espionage witnesses receives enthusiastic agreement.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Prestige TV; Yuri sequel; Susan or college-years prequels

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:07Read transcript
  • A prestige television adaptation is considered promising.
  • A Yuri sequel could follow his American life after the Soviet collapse.
  • Susan: The Gumar Years and Scotty and Tommy’s college years are joking prequel ideas.

Just One Oscar

Screenplay, tentatively

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:40:03Read transcript
  • Screenplay is the tentative choice, with agreement that this is not an obvious Oscar film.

Who Won the Movie?

Kevin Costner; additional choice: the twist, with Will Patton conditional on eligibility

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:28Read transcript
  • Kevin Costner receives the main panel’s final agreement; Young is praised but rejected because she appears too briefly.
  • The additional first-time viewer chooses the twist if eligible, with Will Patton as the alternative if it is not.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
The twist