The Big Easy

Remy McSwain, a homicide detective in New Orleans, treats the city's small corruptions as normal; like everyone else he takes an envelope. Conflict and a relationship begin at once with Anne Osborne, the prosecutor sent to investigate corruption. A run of drug killings joins the two threads. Jim McBride directed. Dennis Quaid plays Remy, Ellen Barkin plays Anne. The city sets the film apart. New Orleans is not scenery here but a character: the kitchens, the cemeteries, the courtroom and above all the music. The soundtrack is full of zydeco and cajun, and the film was among those that carried that music beyond America at the time. The crime plot is secondary; the real subject is corruption lived as habit rather than crime, and the moment that breaks. The rapport between Quaid and Barkin is what the film is remembered for. Who it is for: viewers who like eighties crime romance and the atmosphere of New Orleans. Who it is not for: anyone wanting tight murder plotting; the resolution is weak.