Main Cast: Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Jeroen Krabbé, George Dzundza, Gary Basaraba
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
High-powered gangsters move this crime drama along at a fast pace. When two cops, Eddie Jillette (Richard Gere) and Joe Collins (Gary Basaraba), hear about a contract out on local crime boss Losado (Jeroen Krabbe), they go undercover posing as hitmen, and the result is murder. Collins and the man who hired them, Paul Deveneux (Terry Kinney) are killed, and Jillette goes looking for the assassin. He ends up in New Orleans where he locates Michel Duval (Kim Basinger), the girlfriend of Deveneux now virtually held a prisoner by Losado. Jillette has his work cut out for him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
Richard Pearce's over-the-top cop thriller features a game cast and makes good use of its evocative Big Easy locations. The film once again works over the ur-plot of a cop seeking revenge for his partner's murder, sending Richard Gere's undercover detective to New Orleans in search of the guilty party, a bayou gangster (Jeroen Krabbe), whose speciality is white slavery. That Kim Basinger is the bad guy's prime chattel has also piqued the cop's interest, and the scene in the take-no-prisoners Cajun dive in which Gere handcuffs himself to her is typical of the film's enjoyably lurid trashiness. The plot seems to evaporate as the torrid relationship between these two takes center stage, with Basinger's cold-water bath providing the film's only moment of genuine drama. Despite the moldy script, the camera work and art direction are superb throughout, dovetailing memorably in the Algiers Point scenes. Gere thankfully soft-pedals his narcissism here, and Krabbe and William Atherton stand out in an excellent cast which also includes Ray Sharkey, Charles S. Dutton, and Terry Kinney. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
William Atherton - Allan Deveneux; Terry Kinney - Paul Deveneux; Bruce McGill - Lt. Hall; Ray Sharkey - Angles Ryan; Marita Geraghty - Alice Collins; Aleta Mitchell - Cara; Mike Bacarella - Driver; Kim Chan - Old Asian Man; Caris Corfman - Waitress; George Dickerson - Reblue; Charles S. Dutton - Sgt. Sandy; Victoria Edwards - Bernice; Annalee Jefferies - Susan; Pearl Jones - Blind Woman; Leon Rippy - Man #2; Thomas Rosales, Jr. - Man #4; Raynor Scheine - Curtis; John Snyder - Miles; Bill Hart - Man #3; Carl Gordon - Lawrence; John Schluter - Policeman; Ray Brown - Benny Blue; Harold Evans - Security Guard
Credit
John R. Jensen - Art Director, Doug Kraner - Art Director, Howard Feuer - Casting, Bonnie Oda Homsey - Choreography, Jim Carabatsos - Co-producer, Ellen Mirojnick - Costume Designer, Hilary M. Rosenfeld - Costume Designer, Richard Pearce - Director, Jerry Greenberg - Editor, Dennis Virkler - Editor, Bill Yahraus - Editor, Michael Hausman - Executive Producer, James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Alan Silvestri - Composer (Music Score), Pat Gearhardt - Makeup, Patrizia Von Brandenstein - Production Designer, Jackson de Govia - Production Designer, Michel Brault - Cinematographer, Mikhail Suslov - Cinematographer, D. Constantine Conte - Producer, Jon S. Denny - Producer, Derek R. Hill - Set Designer, Gretchen Rau - Set Designer, Laurie Scott - Set Designer, The EFX Shop - Special Effects, Tulla Cove - Stunts, Jeff Ramsey - Stunts, Dawan Scott - Stunts, Michael Adams - Stunts, Jeff Jensen - Stunts, Rick LeFevour - Stunts, Chuck Waters - Stunts, Sharie Doolittle - Stunts, Larry Holt - Stunts, Bill McIntosh - Stunts, Jim Carabatsos - Screenwriter, Beth Henley - Screenwriter, Tom Rickman - Screenwriter
A maverick Chicago cop, Eddie Jillette, poses as a hit man to meet with someone in from New Orleans looking to have a job done. The result is that both the guy and Jillette's partner wind up dead, while a stunning blonde in on the setup disappears.
Eddie heads south to settle the score. He soon finds himself being hunted, with the blonde in tow.
