The Big Easy (1986)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Big Easy (1986) – J. McBride

I think it was Roger Ebert who said that he’d seen so many thrillers that he just didn’t care about the plots anymore – and it’s true that the (ludicrous) plot of The Big Easy does seem quite beside the point in terms of enjoyment of the film. Instead, its pleasures are found in the New Orleans locale and the sexual tension between Ellen Barkin’s district attorney’s office investigator and police detective Dennis Quaid (showboating with a broad and sometimes incomprehensible Nawlins accent). There may or may not be a gang war and the force may or may not be corrupt (including Quaid’s Remy McSwain) but it is definitely true that both McSwain and Barkin’s Anne Osborne are not really keeping their minds on their work.  Sure, his colleagues, including John Goodman and Ned Beatty, tease him about this but we come to believe that McSwain may be sincere in his feelings. In between the crime scenes, we get some New Orleans music (including Beausoleil, The Neville Brothers, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Professor Longhair), restaurants (Tipitina’s), and locales (not much French Quarter, really). Better than I expected.