The Big Easy

There are delicious slices of French Quarter partyin' and plot twists that don't seem too contrived. [9 Aug 1996, p.E-8]

There's enough humor in this escape route entertainment to bring you back for more. [11 Aug 1996, p.1996]

Inspired by the 1987 feature film, also steamy, with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin, the pilot is dense but awkward while we pick through the accents and try to figure all the twisty relationships among the twisty characters. But there's a nice bounce to the strong cast and a fresh and delicious (and steamy) locale. [7 Aug 1996]

The style of The Big Easy is slick: good camera work, great music, fast pacing. Its script isn't as intelligent yet as some of the big cop dramas on the big networks, but there are glimmers of hope in the City that Hope Forgot. [9 Aug 1996, p.24]

But the transition to the small screen, for now, is more like "The Big Uneasy," even if the series has flashes of promise. [11 Aug 1996, p.F1]

One trouble is that Crane and Walters don't come near striking a spark; episode's final, unprepared-for scene, in which they profess a mutual declaration, goes clunk. [9 Aug 1996]

"Easy" does it with sex, violence and pungent humor. It's hot and spicy, if that's your taste. [9 Aug 1996, p.51]

Atmosphere is all the series has going for it. Remy's murder investigations never become suspenseful. And the slow-burning sexual attraction between Remy and Anne works better in a film than in a series. Drawing the relationship out over several episodes, The Big Easy becomes "Moonlighting" without the wit. [10 Aug 1996, p.19]

What USA Network's adaptation lacks in star power (and does it ever) it tries to overcompensate for in atmosphere -- the same humid texture of New Orleans smells, tastes and music as in the 1987 film. But there's such a thing as laying it on too thick. The Big Easy gags on its local color. [9 Aug 1996, p.3D]

The producers of The Big Easy could take a lesson from Homicide, a show that capitalizes on its regional setting by letting Baltimore's charm come through unself-consciously -- not dressed up, as New Orleans is here, in a bad Mardi Gras costume. [10 Aug 1996, p.3G]

The Big Easy on TV is the opposite of The Big Easy on film. The series has no texture, no thrills, no darkness. It's a flat canvas drawn on by people with more money but no more imagination than the producers of late-night action series starring Julie Strain or Andrew Stevens. It's Silk Stalkings with accents. The one thing TV's The Big Easy shares with its movie predecessor is a convoluted plot that's tied up too easily at the end of the premiere. But it has none of the edgy mood of the film. [10 Aug 1996, p.1C]