The Big Easy [1987] with Dennis Quaid

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092654/

The Big Easy

Directed by Jim McBride
Produced by Executive Producer:
Mort Engelberg
Producer:
Stephen J. Friedman
Written by Daniel Petrie Jr.
Starring Dennis Quaid
Ellen Barkin
John Goodman
Ned Beatty
Music by Brad Fiedel
Cinematography Affonso Beato
Editing by Mia Goldman
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) August 21, 1987
Running time 108 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Big Easy (1987) is an American neo-noir crime film directed by Jim McBride and written by Daniel Petrie Jr. The executive producer of the motion picture was Mort Engelberg and the cinematographer was Affonso Beato.[1] The film was later adapted for a television series for two seasons on the USA Network (1996-1997).[2]

The film stars Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Ned Beatty, among others. It tells the story of how New Orleans detective Remy McSwain (Quaid) and Louisiana district attorney Anne Osborne (Barkin) investigate mob violence, possible police corruption, and in the process learn to deal with their very different personalities.

The action takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana and was shot on location


Roger Ebert, film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, lauded the film, and wrote, "The Big Easy is one of the richest American films of the year. It also happens to be a great thriller. I say 'happens,' because I believe the plot of this movie is only an excuse for its real strength: the creation of a group of characters so interesting, so complicated and so original they make a lot of other movie people look like paint-by-number characters."[5]

Sheila Benson, writing for the Los Angeles Times, wrote, "Screenwriter Daniel Petrie Jr. sets up the conflict, and director Jim McBride fleshes it out with devastating, sexy assurance..."[6]

Film critic Vincent Canby was a bit tougher on the film, and wrote, "Remy and Anne are made for each other, or would have been if The Big Easy were the sophisticated comedy it could have been...[the film] was directed by Jim McBride who one day is going to come up with a commercial movie that works all the way through, and not just in patches."[7]

Critics Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, of the web site Spirituality & Practice, liked the film, and wrote, "The Big Easy says a lot about the peculiar problems and exhilarations which are the daily fare of law enforcement officers...The sparks fly in their volatile love affair which is kept heated throughout by director Tim McBride. Veteran cop writer Joseph Wambaugh once commented that 'an unlucky policeman's life passes through four phases ? cockiness, care, compromise, and despair. The lucky ones don't reach phase four.' All of these phases ? and perhaps a few more ? are convincingly brought to life in The Big Easy, a movie with moral clout and dramatic spunk."[8]

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 13 reviews.[9]