Review of Desperate Measures (2011) by Glucky 2 — 08 Aug 2007

What an under-appreciated gem of a film.

First off: the premise. A bit of a stretch? Absolutely. But it also pressures the story better than many of the life-or-death, cops and robbers tales you'll ever see. This thing is just very well written, well conceived- it's as though they sat down and said, "what was everybody's favorite part about Silence of the Lambs? Hannibal Lecter being smarter than everybody else, right? Why don't we just make a movie about that?".

Andy Garcia does some very nice work in a role which is somewhat atypical for him: not an asshole or a criminal. He's really the perfect foil for Michael Keaton's Peter McCabe- who is a motherfucker of a character. I mean great. You have to understand, Michael Keaton is one of the most talented actors to ever perform in the modern, post-Stanislavski age. He gets inside characters and crawls around in there, everything he does is specific down to the most miniscule facial movement and gesture, and this role is like bubblegum for him. You love this guy so much, and the script gives him just enough of a redeemable side to his personality, that you can't help but root for him. They found a way to give this film dual protagonists, and I love it.

The escape is well staged and thought out, with some very inventive display's of McCabe's intellect. ("Not a vial. An ampoule.") The bulk of the film is set in the ever-worsening situation inside the hospital, as McCabe maneuvers his way to freedom. And the climactic final chase/confrontation, with Garcia's Terminator-like, relentless pursuit of a wounded Keaton is the kind of thing that would feel contrived in a less pressured movie, but here feels authentic and earned.

And the ending is among the most satisfying I have ever seen. They know what movie they made, and they know what we want. Everybody wins!

Oh, also, and I can't stress this enough- they cast a decent kid, and wrote his part well. This is HUGE. This is the kind of thinking that could have saved 3000 Miles to Graceland and countless other actioners. If you're gonna have a kid in there, fucking do it right. Make sure we don't hate him. Barbet Schroeder did, and that decision allows Keaton and Garcia to work without us groaning every time the kid pops up onscreen.