Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

This was the film that earned Richard Gere his star in my personal little walk of fame. I had seen him just basically show up in a film so many times that I had almost dismissed him as “another pretty face.” True, he had his moments, and his performances were not all bad but after I saw No Mercy, I knew I had misjudged him.

The film opens at a Chicago car wash with a pair of yuppies working, wearing some goofy looking silver space suit costumes. There is a fifty foot high blow up doll of a spaceman to attract people to the car wash. We learn that the two workers are cops on a stakeout.

Now don’t get up for a break as the action gets fast and furious right away and you won’t want to miss a thing. A Coupe de Ville comes in and the duo launch into action. A drug bust goes down and they take the culprit back to the station where he breaks down under questioning. In order to get a break he rats on a guy who wants him to “hit” someone out of town - in New Orleans. In fact, they are set to meet that very evening. Since the two have never met, the cops decide to make the meet and take the other guy down. They meet all right, but things don’t go exactly as planned, in fact, one of the cops gets killed in a particularly horrifying way. Psycho ain’t got nothing on this!

The remaining cop Eddie Jillette is, luckily for us, Richard Gere and he has one and only one clue and is determined to get whoever killed his partner. Luckily, his commanding officer (George Dzundza) concurs and Jillette is off to Cajun country. (cue zydeco music)

Well, things get creepy right away down in the “Big Easy” and Jillette is up to his armpits in alligators from both sides of the law. He manages to find his witness by a clever bit of sleuthing but there are people hunting him down right and left. How in the world is this city boy going to prevail over the inbred killers that are swarming over the bayou intent on seeing him breathe his last?

The big thing No Mercy has going for it is atmosphere. You are right there in the stinking swamps with Eddie Jillette and the reeking city environs, too. Director Richard Pearce has discovered the key to building tension and keeps the viewer at a fever pitch and never lets up. Just when you think you can’t stand another minute, he screws it up another notch.

Gere carries the film 100% and makes a truly believable tough-guy cop who is dead set on getting his man. Kim Bassinger plays a “furniture girl” (see Soylent Green) who becomes Gere’s love interest. It seems Bassinger is a slave of the villain. (What century are we in?) As explained to Gere by one character, “We come from a society where it is very pleasurable to be a man.” Is it ever! Bassinger makes a very good transformation from a mousily attractive girl with almost no personality to a steaming sexual dynamo as the two escape and evade from their unceasing foes. I can’t for the life of me figure it out but the more dirty and wet Bassinger gets, the better she looks. They should bottle that swamp muck and sell it in department stores!

But the love story is just an adjunct to the main theme of tracking down the villain and staying alive to tell about it. And what a villain! Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbe plays a Cajun from hell who makes life very interesting for folks down around those parts. In fact, you aren’t sure who is in more danger - Jillette or the Cajun’s “friends.” Again, Director Pearce positioned the villain just perfectly to keep the viewer alarmed and unable to get used to him. Think of the first time you saw Psycho and you will know what I mean.

A big part of the atmosphere is the excellent camerawork by Michel Brault and editing by Jerry Greenburg. Not to mention the superior, nerve-jangling score by Alan Silvestri who counts The Abyss, Young Guns II, and Eraser among his scoring feats. Maybe our next Elmer Bernstein, who knows?

The only part where No Mercy unravels is the ending which reeks of a studio mandated BIG ending, complete with explosions and burning buildings. I can’t believe that Richard Pearce did 95% of the film with unmatched atmosphere and ended it with a cliché type shootout that damps down the atmosphere like throwing water on a roaring fire. Still, the movie is 95% excellent so I can forgive the ending.

The TriStar DVD offers both widescreen (1.85: 1) and 4X3 TV formats on the disk and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. For the money you are not going to find another cop thriller that beats No Mercy. Four stars because of the ending, otherwise two thumbs W-A-A-A-Y up!

More detective stories from the Crescent City:

The Big Easy

Tightrope

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening