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Desperate Measures (1998)
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Synopsis: Widowed police officer Frank Conner (Andy Garcia) has a cancer-stricken nine-year-old son, Matthew (Joseph Cross), whose only hope for survival is a bone-marrow transplant, but the only matching donor is Pete McCabe (Michael Keaton), a vicious, psychotic killer being held in a... Widowed police officer Frank Conner (Andy Garcia) has a cancer-stricken nine-year-old son, Matthew (Joseph Cross), whose only hope for survival is a bone-marrow transplant, but the only matching donor is Pete McCabe (Michael Keaton), a vicious, psychotic killer being held in a maximum-security prison. McCabe at first denies Conner's request for help but then agrees, devising an elaborate plan to use the medical procedure as an opportunity to escape. McCabe breaks loose before the transfusion can occur, and Conner is forced to become both his tracker and his ally, wanting to bring the serial killer back into custody but determined--for the sake of his son--to keep McCabe alive. Keaton is chilling as the vicious, brilliant convict, while Garcia turns in a heartfelt performance as a devoted father caught in the middle of a bad situation getting worse. With DESPERATE MEASURES, director Barbet Schroeder (REVERSAL OF FORTUNE), renowned for his knack of combining urgent family drama with white-knuckle suspense, adds another crowd-pleasing, thought-provoking film to his list of successes. [More]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Starring: Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, Marcia Gay Harden, Brian Cox, Joseph Cross
Screenwriter: David Klass
Composer: Trevor Jones
Producer: Gary Foster, Susan Hoffman, Lee Rich, Barbet Schroeder
Reviews
A preposterous yet entertaining thriller with Michael Keaton stretching admirably as a Hannibal Lecter-style killer.
A squandered opportunity to explore important issues through popular moviemaking.
an astoundingly inept thriller that's easily the worst movie ever directed by Barbet Schroeder and may well prove to be an all-time low for everyone else involved with it.
É uma pena que este seja um filme de ação. A premissa do filme é tão forte e bem armada que, com certeza, poderia ter gerado uma história muito mais dramática e complexa.


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