The Big Easy 1987

In New Orleans, Lt. Remy McSwain [Dennis Quaid] investigates the murder of a local mobster, a case that quickly points to a widening war between two crime families. The arrival of state district attorney Anne Osborne [Ellen Barkin] brings a new dimension: she is there to probe alleged police corruption. Remy’s unorthodox tactics are on display as he handles the case, and Anne challenges him, accusing him of taking payoffs. He defends himself, arguing that the realities of law enforcement in New Orleans demand a hard-nosed approach.

They form a romance despite mounting professional tensions. But that bond is tested when an Internal Affairs sting appears to catch Remy accepting a payoff. Anne, torn between love and duty, must decide whether to prosecute the man she’s come to care for.

With the backing of Remy’s fellow officers, crucial evidence is destroyed or suppressed, and the charges are dropped, throwing Anne into a moral dilemma: uphold the law or protect someone she loves. The twists deepen as it is revealed that Kellom, Remy’s boss and his mother’s fiancé, along with detectives DeSoto and Dodge, orchestrate the murders to cover a heroin-smuggling operation moving drugs from a boat yard.

Kellom goes to the boat where the drugs are stashed; DeSoto and Dodge confront him. Kellom suggests dumping the drugs, but DeSoto and Dodge resist. DeSoto shoots Kellom, and the scene escalates to a dangerous confrontation. Remy and Anne arrive on the scene, and a gunfight erupts with DeSoto and Dodge. In the heat of the battle, Kellom fatally shoots DeSoto, before being mortally wounded himself. Remy responds by firing a flare gun at Dodge, igniting a fire that rages on the boat; the pair barely escape the ensuing explosion.

In the aftermath, Remy carries Anne into her apartment and, in a quiet moment, the two share a dance, hinting at a possible life together despite the shadows of the case. The final scene shows Remy carrying Anne into her apartment, then the two dancing; it appears they were just married.