Desperate Measures (1998)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Barbet Schroeder

Writer (WGA):

David Klass (written by)

Release Date:

30 January 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

His son needs a DNA donor to live. The clock is ticking. The only match is a vicious killer. Now all Frank Conner has to do is catch him.

Plot:

San Francisco police officer Frank Connor is in a frantic search for a compatible bone marrow donor for his gravely ill son...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Police | Escape | Prison Escape | Psycho Thriller

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Michael Keaton	...	Peter McCabe
Andy Garcia	...	Frank Conner
Brian Cox	...	Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Dr. Samantha Hawkins
Erik King	...	Nate Oliver
Efrain Figueroa	...	Vargas
Joseph Cross	...	Matthew Conner
Janel Moloney	...	Sarah Davis
Richard Riehle	...	Ed Fayne
Tracey Walter	...	Medical Inmate
Peter Weireter	...	SWAT Team Commander
Keith Diamond	...	Derrick Wilson
Steve Park	...	Dr. Gosha
Steven Schub	...	SWAT in Airduct
Neal Matarazzo	...	Cell Guard

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34792) | Australia:M | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Closed Norton Air Force Base, San Bernardino, California, USA

Company:

Eaglepoint

Trivia:

In addition to some of the scenes filmed in Pittsburgh, an elaborate set was constructed in a vacant hangar at what is now known as the San Bernardino International Airport, what used to be Norton Air Force base. Both the jail/prison was three stories high and the hospital, built to the same level, were both physically connected by the concourse seen in the movie.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Pete was on the computer towards the beginning of the movie you can clearly see that there is only one cord plugged into the computer. So that means that the mouse wasn't plugged in or the keyboard wasn't plugged in, when he was using both.

Quotes:

Frank Conner: My son needs a new heart!
Peter McCabe: Yeah well I need a blowjob and a martini but i'm not getting that now am I?

Movie Connections:

Remade as Jung (2000)

Soundtrack:

PROUD MARY

With The Potential To Be So Bad, It Turned Out All Right.

Andy Garcia and Michael Keaton star in the classic policeman vs bad guy story, but with a twist. Garcia is Frank Conner, a cop with a son named Matt who desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. Keaton is Pete McCabe, a hardened prisoner who seems to be the only person in the world who matches little Matt's bone marrow type. So eventually, Pete is talked into giving the marrow transplant, but in reality has a plan for escape, leaving Matt and his father, Frank, with nobody, Frank has no other choice but to find Pete and bring him back alive. This is where the cat and mouse plot begins, after nearly an hour of setting it up.

Desperate Measures had the potential to be so bad. I never would have imagined myself enjoying it this much. Thanks to a rainy day and a few hours to kill, I decided to watch this movie and it exceeded my expectations (which were not very high).

I still would not say this is a great movie. In fact, it is pretty average but Michael Keaton gives an enjoyable performance as a hardened prisoner. Normally, I would expect Garcia to be the bad guy and Keaton to be the cop, but Keaton honestly works out better as the bad guy.

The worst part of the movie has to be the kid, Matt, played by Joseph Cross. Nothing he says or does is what a young child his age would actually be thinking or saying. I am not even really disappointed so much with that, but his delivery was terrible. I know he is just a kid, but there are much better child actors who could have portrayed this much better. All in all, worth about a 7/10.