Desperate Measures Review
by Chuck Dowling (chuckd21 AT leading DOT net)March 7th, 1998
DESPERATE MEASURES (1998)
Reviewed by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1998 - The Jacksonville Film Journal
URL:http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/
Cast: Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, Marcia Gay Hardin
Directed by: Barbet Schroeder
Running Time: 100 minutes
My Rating: **** out of *****
"Desperate Measures" was something I was excited about seeing back when it was originally scheduled to be released: Summer '97. For some reason, it was delayed until Hollywood's traditional dumping ground: January. Now that it's out, I see no real reason for that delay, as it's a simple yet highly entertaining film.
Michael Keaton stars as a maniacial murderer who's bone marrow can save the life of the dying son of a San Francisco police detective (Garcia). Keaton agrees to the transplant, only so he can attempt escape. He succeeds, in a plan that of course could only work in the movies. The police force is now trying to kill Keaton, while Garcia is working against them trying to keep Keaton alive in order to save his son.
The film definately has it's flaws. The plot is strictly TV Movie of the Week fare, but the acting and direction certainly boost it far above that status. Also, after Keaton's escape, Garcia's captain barks at him "How many men have to die to save your kid's life?" which the film treats as such an evil and insignificant remark. The thing is, it's a vaild point. How many people have to be needlessly crippled, burned, and killed just to save this one child? What's the greater good here? Many lives or one life? If movies really had guts nowadays, I would have loved to have seen this movie come down to a final choice for Garcia's character. Place him in a situation where he knows that he has to kill Keaton because Keaton is about to kill someone else. Alas, movies these days generally have no such ambition to pull the audience's strings in ways which might make the uncomfortable.
Despite a few silly moments (and one or two really stupid ones), the good things about "Desperate Measures" outnumber the bad. The main highlight would be Keaton's performance. The character could have easily been an overacting, scene chewing freak, but Keaton underplays it nicely. He's not as menacing as he was in "Pacific Heights" or even as menacing as he was in "Batman" (yes kids, Batman used to be a dark character), but you certainly get the idea that he's evil. Even the final scene of the film, which normally I would just hate, seems strangely appropriate for this film. So much so that I didn't mind it in the slightest. And another bonus: the film takes place in San Francisco, which usually means a car chase on those hills that you've seen a billion times before. And for a moment, it looked as though it was about to happen. But it doesn't, and THAT'S creative. [R] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Jacksonville Film Journal -- Film Reviews by Chuck Dowling URL: http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Email: [email protected]
© 1995-1998 of The Jacksonville Film Journal. No reviews may be reprinted without permission.
More on 'Desperate Measures'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
