Product Details

• Actors: Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, Brian Cox, Marcia Gay Harden, Erik King
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: August 31, 1999
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767812549
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #463,380 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Michael Keaton does a credible impersonation of Hannibal Lecter in this far-fetched but pulse-quickening thriller about a cop (Andy Garcia) whose dying son needs a rare form of bone marrow possessed only by a death-row psychopath (Keaton). After agreeing to become a donor, the killer uses the procedure as an opportunity for escape, taking over the hospital and grabbing hostages. The story's promising hook is that Garcia's character himself has to defy authorities in order to end the siege and extract Keaton unharmed. That's pretty much the course of action for the rest of the film, though a failure to make all this completely believable becomes a problem. Director Barbet Schroeder, pursuing a theme consistent with the unholy ties forged between crazies and noncrazies in his earlier films (Reversal of Fortune, Single White Female), strains to create a psychic bridge between the desperate hero and Keaton's mind-bending villain. While the effort is laudable, the connection between cop and criminal is a little too obvious for penetrating exploration. Some of the action sequences, too, are misguided and redundant. Having said that, however, it is always fun to watch Keaton play nut cases, and his character's glee at feeling his power exponentially grow in this situation is highly entertaining. Marcia Gay Harden does a good job as a kind of intermediary in the tense scenario, an ally to the good guy and forced confederate of the bad guy. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker

An exquisitely paced bore from Barbet Schroeder, concerning a cop (Andy Garcia) whose son needs a bone-marrow transplant from a convicted psycho killer (Michael Keaton). Schroeder, quite rightly, plays the whole setup economically, with Keaton trashing the hospital and making his escape in swift, well-edited bursts. But the script (by David Klass) is uninspired, and the acting, by both Garcia and Keaton, is too underplayed to be of much interest. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, to say the least, January 31, 2006

By 

L. Jerome "jamdown" (Silver Spring, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Desperate Measures (DVD)

Michael Keaton puts in another excellent turn as a bad guy. This time he's a multi-murdering felon in a maximum security prison.

Overall, this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end. I agree that the plot is a bit unbelievable, but why should movies be believable anyway. Aren't movies supposed to transport you to another place where reality is temporarily suspended.

Deserves 5 stars for thrills, acting and dark humor.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dramatic but never tragic, September 9, 2007

By 

Jacques COULARDEAU "A soul doctor, so to say" (OLLIERGUES France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Desperate Measures (DVD)

A good film indeed but it does not compare to any Seven or Silence of the Lambs. It has punch, rhythm, inventiveness, creativity even. It has some good dramatic stuff with a kid who is going to die of leukemia as the main stake. It has the antagonistic situation needed for a good film with the only donor being the serial killer who is going to try anything he can to escape. A criminal donor for the son of a cop. We avoid the easy tear forcing unreal situations like when the child is confronted to the escaping criminal who had taken him hostage, but we are not far from it with a child of 9 slightly too mature for his breeches. The female doctor, or rather surgeon is quite valiant and faces danger with elegance and courage. But in spite of all it is nothing but an adventure film more than a thriller because we know the transplant will take place, hence we know the end and we also know that the killer is going to try to escape again and the last scene is outrageously amateurish on the side of the security forces. Well done, good rhythm, good suspense but not more than good, a few creative ideas but nothing really poignant with pathos at any moment.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lack of plot, great suspense, November 22, 2001

By 

"sillyrabbit" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Desperate Measures (DVD)

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*