Desperate Measures

1998 "Desperate times call for. . ."
6.1| 1h40m| R| en| More Info
Released: 30 January 1998 Released
Producted By: Mandalay Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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San Francisco police officer Frank Connor is in a frantic search for a compatible bone marrow donor for his gravely ill son. There's only one catch the potential donor is convicted multiple murderer Peter McCabe who sees a trip to the hospital as the perfect opportunity to get what he wants most: freedom. With McCabe's escape, the entire hospital becomes a battleground and Connor must pursue and, ironically, protect the deadly fugitive who is his son's only hope for survival.

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Director

Barbet Schroeder

Production Companies

Mandalay Pictures

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Desperate Measures Audience Reviews

Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
SnoopyStyle San Francisco police officer Frank Connor (Andy García) is desperate to find a compatible bone marrow donor for his son. He breaks into the FBI to look into their database and discovers that psycho double-murderer prisoner Peter McCabe (Michael Keaton) is the only match. McCabe sees an opportunity. At the hospital, he escapes and takes ER Dr. Samantha Hawkins (Marcia Gay Harden) hostage. He causes chaos as Connor must recapture him alive.The premise is contrived but the movie pushes it even further. It's too far and the movie suffers. Keaton is trying too hard to be creepy. The movie pushes the premise at every turn. It would have been more compelling to draw it back some. If McCabe could be set up as cooperating in the beginning, his turn could be a good shocking twist. The originality comes from Connor's need to keep McCabe alive anyways. It needs a build up. By turning the dial up to 11 right from the start, the tension is oddly deflated with the overreaching.
bababear I recorded this last night on Encore Suspense, and it really looked promising. Great cast, great director, stylish opening titles (that's becoming a lost art), and an interesting premise.Tonight I watched it. My jaw dropped, but for all the wrong reasons. In essence, Michael Keaton plays the Roadrunner, and Andy Garcia plays Wile E. Coyote. The big switch is that the coyote wants to catch the roadrunner because the coyote's son needs a bone marrow transplant and the roadrunner is a perfect match.Garcia's character is a police officer who very improbably arranges for Keaton to be released from prison so that the transplant can be done in a San Francisco hospital. Of course, complications ensue. Unfortunately, so does hilarity.It is admirable that Garcia's character, a widower, wants his child to survive. But after Keaton escapes he kills or injures dozens of police officers and hospital staff, but Garcia continually subverts attempts to capture or kill Keaton. As the Police Captain asks Garcia, "How many people are going to have to die here tonight so that kid of yours can live?"At first the film is entertaining. Keaton rightly realizes that the script is an improbable dud, so he has fun with it. But when he makes his big escape and slides down a laundry chute with a shock paddle in each hand to slow his fall it's clear that we've left the Earth's gravitational pull far behind us.It's good to see Keaton working. He's a fine actor who makes a lot of films, they just don't get released. But, good Lord, this was his next film after JACKIE BROWN. Is he that hard up for work?The much discussed in these pages ending, which I will not reveal, is predictable and even more unbelievable than anything else in the film. It's a perfect example of OK, smooth move, but what are you going to do now? What does NOT happen in the ending was that Garcia's son coming out from under sedation and speaking to his Dad in Keaton's voice. That's where the second star came from.Parents' note: Violence, profanity, gore, and an unforgivable scene in which a gun is aimed at a child's head.Trivia note: Later on Keaton starred in JACK FROST as a musician who neglects his family, dies, and comes back as a snowman. No, really, that's what happens. It's bad enough to count as a crime against humanity. The little boy who plays Garcia's son in DESPERATE MEASURES plays Keatons' son in JACK FROST.
FlashCallahan San Francisco police officer Frank Connor is in a frantic search for a compatible bone marrow donor for his gravely ill son.There's only one catch: the potential donor is convicted multiple murderer Peter McCabe who sees a trip to the hospital as the perfect opportunity to get what he wants most: freedom.With McCabe's escape, the entire hospital becomes a battleground and Connor must pursue and, ironically, protect the deadly fugitive who is his son's only hope for survival....What we have here is essentially a chase movie. Schroeder is a great director, but it seems that he has just sat back and let the actors do what they do.Keaton and Garcia are great as the two leads, and Keaton arguably plays one of his greatest roles.He's usually the nice dependable guy who just likes the easy life, but here, he's just gone all out in his portrayal. He's no Hannibal Lecter, which in some scenes he's clearly trying to be (there is even mention of him getting in your head), but nevertheless he seems more human than your usual nut-job.Garcia too is very good as the desperate dad, and both are ably supported by the rest of the cast.If you can forgive some really silly parts in the film and can forget plausibility for ninety minutes, you are going to get a rollicking good movie.It's a shame that this was overlooked in the cinemas, because it really is a treat to watch.If you get a chance to see it, please do.
thinker1691 This fast paced, exciting and gripping movie was written by David Klass and directed by Barbet Schroeder. It relates the story of Frank Connor, (Andy Garcia) a police detective who's son is desperately ill and needs a bone marrow transplant. However, when the perfect donor is located, it turns out he's in a maximum security prison and belongs to one, Peter McCabe (Michael Keaton). McCabe is a serious minded, multiple murderer who's I.Q. is in the genius range. Connor's is desperate enough to try anything to save his son and that includes releasing the prisoner from his maximum enclosure, long enough to extract the necessary ingredient while under the most stringent security measures available. However, despite the nearly impregnable restrains, McCabe is incredibly versatile, crafty and learns the weaknesses of his jailers, enough to exploit their mistakes and take advantage of their ignorance. From the moment the prisoner is removed from his incarceration, the audience is given an explosive, action-oriented and dramatic film which makes for a great escape. Keaton is magnificent and his role will surely make this effort a Classic. ****