Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Navy Lt. Tom Farrell meets a young woman, Susan Atwell , and they share a passionate fling. Farrell then finds out that his superior, Defense Secretary David Brice, is also romantically involved with Atwell. When the young woman turns up dead, Farrell is put in charge of the murder investigation. He begins to uncover shocking clues about the case, but when details of his encounter with Susan surface, he becomes a suspect as well.
No Way Out is a taut Cold War thriller that builds genuine suspense through its clever double-jeopardy premise — the investigator becoming the investigated. The plot is its standout strength, weaving espionage, murder, and political corruption into a tightly wound structure that culminates in one of the era's most memorable twist endings, elevating it well above average. The ending specifically recontextualizes everything that came before in a genuinely shocking way, earning a top mark. Acting is solid but unremarkable — Kevin Costner is charismatic if not transformative, Gene Hackman reliable. Cinematography is competent thriller craft without distinctive visual flair. Novelty earns an above-average mark: while it is a remake of The Big Clock (1948), the Cold War spy-thriller reframing and its particular twist give it a sufficiently distinctive identity, though it doesn't reinvent the form.