The Big Easy 1986

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune: It's sleek, briskly paced, firmly controlled and shrewdly dosed with humor, action and romance. Read more

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: The film's strength is director Jim McBride's seemingly easy way of presenting us with a New Orleans that is more malevolent and intoxicating than the tourist trap that some think it to be. Read more

Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times: Eventually the film's suspense underpinnings take over its personal story, yet that tension Quaid and Barkin generate still holds. Soldily fine as actors they're also a great pair, like two golden athletes. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: The Big Easy is as atmospheric as they come, but -- surprise! -- it's also sharp and swift. Plus, it has ample amounts of chemistry -- the steamy, sexy kind. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: The Big Easy is an extremely enjoyable (and well-lubricated) vehicle for two actors who aren't quite yet stars, but should be. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: [McBride] gets tense, sexy performances from Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin and makes the most of his New Orleans locations. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Until conventional plot contrivances begin to spoil the fun, The Big Easy is a snappy, sassy battle of the sexes in the guise of a melodrama about police corruption. Read more

Vincent Canby, New York Times: The screenplay, by Daniel Petrie Jr. and Jack Baran, has a number of funny lines and situations, but the end result looks fiddled with by people attempting to ''fix'' things. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The plot of this movie is only an excuse for its real strength: the creation of a group of characters so interesting, so complicated and so original they make a lot of other movie people look like paint-by-number characters. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: A movie that manages to be atmospherically rich while also satisfying the slash-crash imperatives of the police-action genre. Read more

Time Out: There is a gusto to the movie and a rush of incidental delights. Highly enjoyable. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: This is one movie that lives up to its billing; it's easy all right. Like falling off a log. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: One spicy gumbo of a detective film. Read more