Big Easy Is A Hidden Gem of 80s Crime Cinema
There are many for whom New Orleans, Louisiana is still a magical place, full of crawfish etouffee, jazz music and muggings. Such people would probably enjoy Jim McBride’s Big Easy, a 1984 crime film set in the Big Easy that takes on as much from its setting as possible. The music, the crime, the food, the accents-it’s a dedication to a place and a place in time. New Orleans is a mystic city, where time feels hazy. The early 80s as shown in Big Easy feel more like the 70s or even the 50s. There’s a looser aestheticism here and it makes for a better movie.
Big Easy is about NOPD detective Remy McSwain, played by Dennis Quaid, and his relationship with a nosy D.A Anne Osborne, played by Ellen Barkin. Though labeled as a crime film or a thriller, in truth the movie is a romance between Osborne and McSwain. Osborne’s investigation into the NOPD and McSwain’s undying devotion to the department make them natural enemies, but this animosity ends up taking the form of attraction more often than not.
In many ways the pair are a perfect dichotomy, with Osborne’s serious and principled facade masking a feminine fragility that appealed to this viewer’s lizard brain instincts, while McSwain contrasts her with a goofy nature hiding a gritty and harsh depth. It’s a joy to watch the chemistry between Quaid and Barkin as they wander around New Orleans. Barkin’s character appears to know nothing about New Orleans while Quaid’s character is basically if New Orleans was a person. Remy McSwain (Quaid’s character) is mischievous, bending the rules because he feels that it does no harm. Anne Osborne (Barkin’s character) is like a classic Good Girl, virtuous, innocent and entirely out of her depth.
The thing that grabbed me right away with this movie is Dennis Quaid’s absurd yet excellent Cajun accent. In a modern context it’s probably entirely unnecessary for a movie set in New Orleans to feature a Cajun accent so heavily but for what this movie is, it works really well. McSwain’s rugged Southern bayou style contrasts wildly with Osborne’s buttoned up professionalism and simply listening to the two of them talk is delightful. Quaid brings as much to the role with his physicality as he does with his voice. His gait and movement is like that of a beefy polecat, weaseling around with a kind of a shadiness that mirrors his mild corruption as a police officer.
Barkin, plays perfectly off of Quaid, matching his callous summary judgment of corruption with an equally stern moralist stance and a true desire to make the world more fair and less corrupt. Ironically this desire is contradicted almost from the get go by how easily Barkin’s character is seduced by Quaid and his shadowy rizz. It’s the classic “Good Girl can’t help herself around the Bad Boy” trope that almost paints being a sleaze in a positive light. Almost. Weirdly, while Barkin’s character does come off as “easy”, she is apparently inexperienced, as evidenced by a whole scene featuring an awkward makeout session where Osborne appears to be wearing “tighty whities”, possibly the most unflattering underwear ever. A chastity belt would’ve been more appealing. “I’m not very good at this” she squeaks during an early encounter with McSwain. Frankly this could’ve gone unsaid. That’s not to say that Barkin’s sex appeal is in any way understated. Quite the opposite-the film puts her in business attire and gym clothes and lets her cook. Barkin is murky, magnetic and pointed in the film and her performance is restrained but earnest. There are shades of Gone Girl’s “Cool Girl” and brilliant inversions of classic noir and crime femme fatales.
The film’s larger plot revolves around a series of murders around New Orleans, which appear to be related to drug trafficking. But there are rumors on the streets that the police are involved and while McSwain approaches the drug side of things, Osborne suspects the NOPD. And this suspicion leads to her meeting McSwain and from there we get the romance that structures the film. There are various crime setups, a whole internal affairs/trial subplot, and a few action sequences but these are deployed tactfully, never taking the focus away from both characters. The film moves a lot into place while exerting very little effort and wasting very little time. This allows the film leeway to delve into its story slowly and develop its characters. At the end of the day, the crime story ends up being incidental to the true thrust of the film, which is the romance between Osborne and McSwain.
What I really loved about this film is the atmosphere. For an 80s crime movie that was made post Miami Vice, it feels very salt of the earth. It did a great job taking advantage of its setting without hammering us with it constantly. A lot of the side characters and general ambiences are very realistic of Louisiana and New Orleans and as a Southerner it does have a certain down home feel, even if it is a tongue in cheek. I approved nonetheless.
Ultimately it’s not a perfect movie. Some would argue it’s far from that mark. The main plot feels too removed from what’s happening on screen at times and the villain is unclear until the last 15 minutes. John Goodman and Ned Beatty are both in this movie but most viewers wouldn’t know that unless they looked closely because they’re underutilized in this production. Quaid and Barkin’s cuddling scenes are awkward, whether by design or not, and it’s cringe. Though not excessively 80s in aesthetics or tropes, there are still some artifacts here and there, such as the makeout scene music, that don’t do much for the film in 2023. But in my opinion, none of these things are a serious problem for the film.
I don’t know what I expected when I threw on Big Easy but I certainly did not expect to be sucked into a love story where the romance was more captivating than the crime. Great movies ascend on the strength of their characters and those characters' relationships and this is where Big Easy shines. It lures us in with the idea of an 80s Louisiana crime thriller and hooks us with Quaid and Barkin’s acting chops. It watches like good pulp reads,with tried and tested ideas meeting crisp new levels of execution, a complex yet simple story that doesn’t ask much of the viewer. For a random click on Tubi, you can’t do much better.
