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Reviewed by Bob Banka
February 10, 1999
THE BIG EASY
TRIMARK
Widescreen, 1.85 : 1
Dolby Digital, 2 speaker mono
Color
100 Minutes
Rated R 1987
COMMENTS
THE BIG EASY is drenched in atmosphere. A crime drama set in Fat City - New Orleans, Jim McBride's 1987 flic features fine performances by lead actors and supporters, not the least of which is the sultry city itself. Heavy accents ooze from the characters, as does the lazy, easy-going, manner with which they approach crime and punishment. You see, day have dey on way of doin' thans don dare. They have their own way of dealing with their women, their business, their criminals, and their fun and games. They have their own music, their own dancing, and their own kind of food. THE BIG EASY has as much to do with these things as it does its police story. It's also a steamy love story. McBride's film has it all - and it handles it with style - New Orleans style.
A drug war has erupted between a pair of rival crime families in the city. A recent murder has caught the attention of the DA's office, and they've sent in an operative to snoop around the police precinct - to look for cops on the take. Too many of these murders have gone into the books unsolved.
Dennis Quaid is Remy McSwain, the charming, irresistible, half Irish, half Cajun cop in charge of the case. This fella's got style - both in his wardrobe and in his manner of being a cop. He's a real smoothie. He's a good cop - with no reservations concerning the protection money he and the boys take from bar owners in town. It's part of the job. Ellen Barkin is Anne Osborne, the priggish official from the DA's office who quickly catches Remy's eye. She's prim and proper, squeaky clean, and clearly from outa' town - that is, she doesn't blend and she doesn't bend. Though her job is unearthing crooked cops, she's fallen head over heals for Remy - who, as we learn, has dirt under his nails. This sets up both the steamy love story angle and the conflict. The two have the hots for each other, but professionally, they're at odds.
All the wiseguy business in THE BIG EASY - the murders, the drugs, and so on, could be from most any television crime series episode. There's nothing new or refreshing about it. McBride's film is concerned more with characters and atmosphere, and it succeeds wonderfully on this level. From the opening credits, terrific, snazzy Cajun music pours itself all over the images. The streets are dark, wet, and moody. This is another world. McBride's New Orleans is like no other city. It's rich with traditions, and colorful people, having a let-us-do-our-own-thing attitude. Lisa Fischer's sets, and Affonso Beato's cinematography paint a picture that's overflowing with atmosphere through which the film's characters can breeze.
Barkin and Quaid have more chemistry than you're likely to see between two romantic leads. Their most erotic scene has them nearly fully clothed but still managing to generate enough heat and humidity to fog the windows. Quaid's Remy is cool, charming, and certain. Barkin's Anne is shy, inexperienced, and unsure. The old 'opposites attract' angle can work well with the right actors, and these two bring a real life and energy to the material. Even when they're not in bed, but standing across a room full of colleagues, their eyes lock and dance with excitement - try as they may to conceal their relationship - conflict of interest you know. These performances are fun to watch.
Just as the rest of THE BIG EASY's police story is unoriginal and paint by numbers, the finale, complete with a shootout and explosion, is uninspired. However, you won't mind it too much, since the 90 minute ride to get there is memorable enough to overlook the obligatory bang, bang, BOOM!
PLOT SYNOPSIS
A wiseguy from one of New Orleans' crime families is found face down in a fountain. Remy McSwain (Dennis Quaid), the youngest cop ever to make detective in The Big Easy, is assigned to the case. He comes from a pedigree of cops, and has many relatives on the force. He's cocky, and cool - a real charmer. When he questions the corpse's former boss, it may appear as though he's drawn a blank, but Remy thinks he can see all he needs in the old man's eyes. He can read people, and he's convinced a drug war is blossoming in his corner of the city.
In his office, Remy meets Anne Osborne (Ellen Barkin), from the DA's office, whose presence implies that someone higher up the food chain is trying to sniff out corruption in the department. Remy takes offense to this, but not enough to prevent him from asking sweet Anne out for dinner. That night Anne watches her date break one law after another, and accepting gratuities from a restaurant owner. She's convinced his crooked, but Remy says things are different in the city. Folks like to show their appreciation for the work done by their boys in blue. No harm, no foul. The night ends badly for Remy and Anne.
Remy's caught accepting a bribe on video tape, and arrested, and Anne is the prosecutor when his case comes to trial. Remy gets off - with a little help from his friends, but his chances of sustaining a relationship with his gal seem hopelessly dashed. Wiseguys are still turning up dead everywhere, and it's evident that this is no drug war. Why else would the DA's office be snooping around? Remy knows that Anne's withholding information that can help him break the case. Eventually he convinces her to come clean and work with him to put and end to the killings.
IMAGE
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time Jim McBride's THE BIG EASY has been made available in widescreen for home viewing. Though it's a pity, Trimark didn't grant the atmospheric flic with an anamorphic transfer, they've still done a fine job to present us with a crisp, sharp image.
I was concerned that, being a lesser known film - now more than a decade old, THE BIG EASY would get a BIG bummer of a transfer. I was very pleased to hear it would be in widescreen - reasoning that it would be an entirely new, made for DVD transfer, rather than a 'retread' of the full frame laser disc transfer ( P U ! ). The colors on this transfer or vivid, saturated, and natural looking. The image is nearly always sharp and detailed and blacks are solid and true. There are a number of darker scenes - set in the moody streets or restaurant's hoppin' to Cajun tunes, and here brighter reds, blues, and greens, glare out of the darkness cleanly with no bleeding. I should note however, that now and again, fleshtones seem a bit off - too orange, and occasionally detail in character's faces is lacking.
The rarer, brighter exteriors, for example the party celebrating Remy's acquittal, look very good - with bright rich colors, sharp lines and good detail. No problems with 'ringing' or 'shimmer' from digital over-enhancement, and only one or two instances where 'grain' is noticeable - and just barely. The print itself is nearly, though not completely, free of distracting nics and scars. This is a very solid transfer from the folks at Trimark.
AUDIO
Unfortunately the folks at Trimark could do no better than provide the picture with anything other than a 'Mono Dolby' soundtrack (this is the phrase listed on the DVD packaging). This is two speaker mono, and though it's a clean track - it does very little to enhance the viewing experience. This is a bare bones, unremarkable presentation.
It does go slightly further than poorer mono transfers in that it carries a fair amount of bass and a decent portion of the dynamic range, but still - it's flat and narrow 'soundstage' is dull as a marble. Dialogue sounds decent, not compressed or distorted. There are no 'drop outs' or 'pops' on the track, and there's no annoying background hiss. To be fair, it's possible that the original sound recordings for the film were in mono, and that there was little Trimark could do to spiff things up. If so - too bad. This film could really do with some richer sound to go with it's rich, atmospheric images.
FEATURES
Scene access menu with links to 30 chapters in the film
Cast and crew filmos and bios
Theatrical trailer (Full Frame, two speaker mono)
Spanish, English, and French subtitles
English closed captions
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