No Mercy (1986)

Richard Pearce's over-the-top cop thriller features a game cast and makes good use of its evocative Big Easy locations. The film once again works over the ur-plot of a cop seeking revenge for his partner's murder, sending Richard Gere's undercover detective to New Orleans in search of the guilty party, a bayou gangster (Jeroen Krabbe), whose speciality is white slavery. That Kim Basinger is the bad guy's prime chattel has also piqued the cop's interest, and the scene in the take-no-prisoners Cajun dive in which Gere handcuffs himself to her is typical of the film's enjoyably lurid trashiness. The plot seems to evaporate as the torrid relationship between these two takes center stage, with Basinger's cold-water bath providing the film's only moment of genuine drama. Despite the moldy script, the camera work and art direction are superb throughout, dovetailing memorably in the Algiers Point scenes. Gere thankfully soft-pedals his narcissism here, and Krabbe and William Atherton stand out in an excellent cast which also includes Ray Sharkey, Charles S. Dutton, and Terry Kinney. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide