The Big Easy

"He's got to hide the truth. She'll stop at nothing to find it. But tonight, everything's off the record."

1986 1h 42m EN

😐

6.2

MID

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.5

IMDB

★6.2TMDB · 223🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes●77Metacritic★6.5IMDB · 14,679

DramaActionCrimeMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Remy McSwain is a New Orleans police lieutenant who investigates the murder of a local mobster. His investigation leads him to suspect that fellow members of the police force may be involved.

“He's got to hide the truth. She'll stop at nothing to find it. But tonight, everything's off the record.”

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Cast

Dennis Quaid
Remy McSwain
Ellen Barkin
Anne Osborne
Ned Beatty
Jack Kellom
John Goodman
Andre DeSoto
Lisa Jane Persky
McCabe
Ebbe Roe Smith
Ed Dodge
Tom O'Brien
Bobby McSwain
Charles Ludlam
Lamar Parmentel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jim McBride
Writers: Daniel Petrie Jr.
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

40 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jim McBride, shot by Affonso Beato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Brad Fiedel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Editor Mia Goldman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin and Ned Beatty carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He's got to hide the truth. She'll stop at nothing to find it. But tonight, everything's off the record.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0092654 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jim McBride directs. Affonso Beato behind the camera. Brad Fiedel scores. Mia Goldman cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

140 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Jim McBride, shot by Affonso Beato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Brad Fiedel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Mia Goldman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin and Ned Beatty carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "He's got to hide the truth. She'll stop at nothing to find it. But tonight, everything's off the record.".
7IMDB entry: tt0092654 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Affonso Beato
Original score: Brad Fiedel
Editing: Mia Goldman
Production design: Jeannine Oppewall
Costume design: Tracy Tynan
Makeup / hair: Enid Arias
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $8,500,000
Box office: $17,685,307
Return: 208% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Big Easy (1986)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 77/100
IMDB rating: 6.5/10 · 14,679 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

4 wins & 7 nominations total

Also by

Jim McBride

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

JPV8522023-05-16
★ 7/10
Decent enough mystery-thriller-romance features good performances from Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin. It is on the predictable side but still entertaining enough. 3.5/5
Wuchak2024-12-02
★ 6/10
Good ol’ boys on the take in New Orleans with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin A new DA assistant (Barkin) arrives in town and zeroes-in on corruption in the force. While the head detective (Quaid) cozies up to her, they try to solve a curious mob-oriented slaying. Ned Beatty, John Goodman, Lisa Jane Persky and Ebbe Roe Smith are on hand as members in the agency. "The Big Easy" (1987) has the office camaraderie of Burt Reynolds’ “Fuzz” from fourteen years prior meshed with the milieu and more serious tone of “Cat People,” Eastwood’s “Tightrope” and Gere’s “No Mercy,” the latter of which came out just months before this. “Cop Land” was obviously influenced by it a decade later. It’s rich with the ambiance of NOLA, including Cajun, zydeco, R&B, and gospel music in the soundtrack. Many praise Quaid’s thick Cajun accent while others view it as overdone. I side with the latter but, then, I tend not to care about accents in movies, so it’s all good (for me). It just seems Dennis’ head detective comes across too convivial, but this can be explained by the fact that Quaid later admitted to being coked-up during the shoot in which he was only sleeping one hour a night. Nevertheless, both Dennis and Ellen consider this the favorite of the many films they've made. While it was overpraised at the time of release and I’d watch “Cat People” and “Cop Land” over it any day, it’s superior to “Fuzz” and certainly worth checking out for those interested. Aside from the amusing (and sometimes grisly) dramatics, not to mention Barkin’s beauty, I liked the insightful commentary on legalism: If you want to get technical about it, people break laws every day, like jaywalking. But what if you ARE the Law? Where do you draw the moral line? How much is too far? Where is the proverbial point of no return? It runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot in New Orleans. GRADE: B-