One of the wrost movies I have ever seen

Charming and brutal

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Question : Did the mistresses of ministers in Washington ever get taken to a inaugural balls after the sixties were over ? ? Because that seems like the most unprofessional thing to do ever. Mix in a flimsy espionage plot , stupid scenario's wherein people are keeping things that could destroy them in plain sight and what do you get ? No way out! No way out : A terribly over budgeted , poorly written snooze fest that as a bonus shows early versions of things we would later see done much better in the Jack Ryan films only without any of the existing international aspects of it , or any good character building moments , or James Earl Jones, or Alec Baldwin/ Harrison Ford , or anything remotely exciting really. No this is actually none of that when you watch it now that the once exciting technological aspects of it are both outdated and cliché. I have heard that this picture is a remake of a film made in 1948, If that is the case it would a lot more sense in my opinion. Although some then impressive tech is featured , It is basically a string of human errors on the part of the conspirators that exposes them. And the mistress being at the inaugural ball would have been less of a issue when there was less of a focus on affairs like these form the press , and less ways it could be recorded. But in 1987 the usage of limousines to pick up your mistress seems tenfolds more decadent than it would have done in 1948 . I suggest you watch that version , because this film's depiction of Washington intrigues was outdated even then. It also perfectly explains why Sean Young's character doesn't seem to have much of a professional career ahead and moves around the Washington social circuit without being involved in politics or government. This would make sense in the forties , it does not in the late eighties ( or at least it's painful to watch now ).Costner's Naval officer is a characterless Mary Stu in every single way h doesn't have much to play with , but when he does get to be angry or something his acting style often doesn't match the style of other actors in the scene. Gene Hackman in the same year he reprises his role as Lex Luthor in the now infamous superman IV once again plays a supposed genius ( they out right have people call him that actually ) but comes across more as a emotionally unstable autistic man at times, and frankly the character just turns into a big child towards the end. It's just pathetic to watch ; his character makes such weird mistakes and takes such ridiculous risks you can't take him seriously anymore.The chemistry between Costner and Young reminds me of twilight a lot. The script was apparently filled with looks that are supposed to convey 'a silent understanding' or something like that , but it never works!Hackman is seemingly over compensating for basically every poor delivery and stale look of all scenes he isn't in and he just turns into a caricature of a good actor near the end. Also the blatantly homosexual women fearing adviser having a clear crush on Hackman's character is incredibly sickening to watch as the character progresses. You know how in Django Unchained you are intrigued by the complicated relationship between Mr.Candy and Stephen ? well its nothing like that. It's just really sad. As a whole i would call this film overrated and Arcadian.

Commander Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) is a naval officer who is being interrogated. Six months earlier, Farrell got involved with Susan Atwell (Sean Young) without knowing that she's the mistress to the secretary of defense David Brice (Gene Hackman). He's starting a new job under Brice working with an old friend Scott Pritchard (Will Patton). Eventually Farrell finds out that Brice is the other man. A jealous Brice strikes Susan off the balcony to her death. Pritchard works to cover it up and find the other lover who is a possible witness. There is a negative to a Polaroid under the bed and Pritchard claims it as a photo of a KGB mole. Farrell is put in charge as Sam Hesselman (George Dzundza) tries to regenerate the photo.It's a terrific noir thriller. Once the movie turns into an investigation, the paranoia and the intensity ramp up multiple folds. It's like a runaway train. It's an exciting psychological thriller without the action scenes. With this, Kevin Costner is on his way to becoming the biggest star in Hollywood.

I've watched the movie a few days ago (2014), and to say the truth - I wasn't really expecting anything - I knew it is a quite early Kevin Costner/Gene Hackman movie which I haven't heard about. The acting is great, the plot is really interesting - once you start watching it, it will be really hard to pause. Maybe some parts of the movie were a bit predictable but the big twist in that movie is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME and really UNEXPECTED.If you have a chance - go watch this one on a rainy Friday night, you won't regret.8/10

Kevin Costner hit's a home run with this, excellent performance maybe of his career, next to Field of Dreams.. Gene Hackman is at his usual best in this. Will Patton plays his role perfectly,, and for me Sean Young just stole the show,, not only is she very sexy,, but she can act as well,, love the line in the movie where she tells the short guy that's trying to look down her dress,, to grow a few inches if you wanna look down my dress,, that just brought me so much laughter. A Military Officer is brought in to be a liason to the Defense Secretary to the NSA , and other various government branches.. When the Secretary accidentally kills his mistress. the cover up is on,, they invent a ghost terrorist, who has dropped off the map for years,, to take the blame,, not going to say a lot more, but you do get a good look inside the massive pentagon,, and the beginning of the movie has a great tracking shot of the downtown D.C. area.. great movie,, all star cast,, great actioneer.