Desperate Measures
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Movie Reviews of Desperate Measures
Movie Review: Whats up?
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this movie on tv. I was captivated with the crazy escapes and inovative ideas in the movie. I thought it was a very good movie.Movie Review: Good Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a good movie.Not classic but not stupid a good suspence/action flick.Andy Garcia is a good actorMovie Review: Lack of plot, great suspense
Summary: 4 Stars
It's easy to see why DESPERATE MEASURES got bad reviews. The plot might have holes large enough to sail a barge through, and yes, it is quite implausable, but it's hard to completely diss a movie with performances and direction as good as this.Michael Keaton is eerily menacing as Peter McCabe in this film. He's smart, dangerous, and unpredictable, just like the character requires. Keaton easily does his best work yet as a serious actor. Andy Garcia proves once again that THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD was not a fluke, and that he really is capable of turning in one fine performance after another. While a couple of the supporting performances aren't up to the level they should be, it doesn't pull down the film.
The direction by Barbet Schroeder is brilliant. THe noir style that the film was shot in works extremely well for the type of film this is. His odd camera angles and dark, brooding shots work perfectly with the dark story. The look of the smoke and fire is perfectly shot, and he should commend his cinematographer.
The suspense, however, is what keeps this film kicking. Even though the lack plot tends to drag down a little bit of the film, it's still a guessing game most of the time, and Schroeder knows how to play this up. It's a shame that critics like Leonard Maltin couldn't look past the implausability at the truly excellent moments of the film. After all, they give truly implausable movies like CON AIR good reviews, and this film is FAR more realistic.
DESPERATE MEASURES is a greatly underrated film that deserves a look. It's decently smart and a hell of a lot more entertaining than a lot of the drivel that Hollywood produces nowadays. *cough, Pearl Harbor, cough*
Movie Review: Fast paced thriller.
Summary: 4 Stars
Michael Keaton does a great job of acting in this role. He plays an intelligent psychotic killer. By far one of his best performances. I could actually believe him as a sociopath. Andy Garcia delivers a good performance as a father who will stop at nothing to save his sons life. But his acting does not come up to the same standard as Mr. Keaton's in this movie.
The movie is about a father who is trying to save his son's life. His son is dying of cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. But we learn at the begining of the movie that there are no donor's that match. Garcia, as a police officer, and the boys father illegally breaks into the FBI's computer in order to use their resoures to find a compatible donor. And he does, in the form of an inmate played by Keaton.
Keaton's character has the right blood type to give the boy the required bone marrow. He finally agrees to help the boy. We see him prepare for what he hopes will be his escape to freedom from the hospital. Will he escape or decide to take his one chance at redemption by helping this boy. And if this would have been played out as a story of redemption, it would have easily gotten a five star rating.
But it seems a suspense thriller was wanted instead of a great drama. So Keaton escapes. And we have the time critical chase. The police just want him caught dead or alive. Of course Garcia's character needs him alive, in order to save his boy. Would any of this happen in real life....no chance. But it does make for a fast pace thriller. You will be caught up in the great direction and wounderful cinematography. This film has been underrated and does deserve to be viewed. I found it entertaining.
Movie Review: A Very Enjoyable Film
Summary: 4 Stars
Were it not for the use of the "F" word, a number of times, and a few violent scenes, like showing a closeup of a needle being injected into a person, I would class this as a very enjoyable family film (for mature children over 12). It was probably classed as "Restricted" because of some scenes where the criminal threatens the child.
I watched this film on TV with my 11-year-old daughter, and we both really enjoyed it. I thought the actors' performances were fantastic. The reason my daughter enjoyed the film was because it was about a child's situation. I had to explain a few details to her, as we watched, but she was caught up in the story of the child who needed a bone-marrow transplant, and all that happened leading up to it. Andy Garcia plays a very loving father, who will do ANYTHING to help his son, thus overshawding the violence in the film. This is not a film kids under 15 should watch by themselves, but with parents, it would be quite OK.
Michael Keaton turns in a really masterful performance as a serial murderer with a super-high IQ, who manages to turn his supposed aquiescene to the bone-marrow donation into a masterful escape plan. The whole movie is a super piece of suspense. It kept both my daughter and myself on the edge of our seats. My husband arrived toward the end, and said he had previously seen the movie, and had enjoyed it as much as we did.