Desperate Measures | | Cast : | Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia | | Director : | Barbet Schroeder | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | January 30, 1998 | | DVD Released Date : | June 01, 2004 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 16, 2005 | | Summary | Fast paced thriller. | Content
 | Michael Keaton does a great job of acting in this role. He plays an intelligent psychotic killer. By far one of his best performances. I could actually believe him as a sociopath. Andy Garcia delivers a good performance as a father who will stop at nothing to save his sons life. But his acting does not come up to the same standard as Mr. Keaton's in this movie.
The movie is about a father who is trying to save his son's life. His son is dying of cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. But we learn at the begining of the movie that there are no donor's that match. Garcia, as a police officer, and the boys father illegally breaks into the FBI's computer in order to use their resoures to find a compatible donor. And he does, in the form of an inmate played by Keaton.
Keaton's character has the right blood type to give the boy the required bone marrow. He finally agrees to help the boy. We see him prepare for what he hopes will be his escape to freedom from the hospital. Will he escape or decide to take his one chance at redemption by helping this boy. And if this would have been played out as a story of redemption, it would have easily gotten a five star rating.
But it seems a suspense thriller was wanted instead of a great drama. So Keaton escapes. And we have the time critical chase. The police just want him caught dead or alive. Of course Garcia's character needs him alive, in order to save his boy. Would any of this happen in real life....no chance. But it does make for a fast pace thriller. You will be caught up in the great direction and wounderful cinematography. This film has been underrated and does deserve to be viewed. I found it entertaining. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 27, 2005 | | Summary | A Huge Thriller/Keaton Fan! | Content
| When I first heard about this movie. I was thinking it was going to be something about one dumb con trying to escape, a movie with a lot of humor like Con-Air(Nicholas Cage). This is more of a thriller than anything else though.
The actors all were excellent I'd say. michael Keaton(Batman 1 & 2), played one of the best villian cons I have seen in a while. Andy Garcia(The Untouchables,Twisted) was also the father who was highly believable in fighting for his kid. marcia Gay Harden(mickey Blue Eyes,mona Lisa Smile) showing why she deserved that academy award for her acting talent.
The director Barbet Schroeder(Single White Female), is no stranger to movies. I thought this was one of his best films, and that he should get the credit for giving us another thriller.
If you want to see a serial killer(Keaton), locked away in prison escaping stuck inside of a hospital trying to break his way out. Then this is the best movie to buy. It has action, it has a great plot, and definitely it's something new to watch. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 23, 2004 | | Summary | How about the music!? | Content
| Guys! Guys! Cut it out! This is the section for reviews about the MUSIC! Not the flippin movie. Why must you talk stupid nonsense!? All I friggin want is to know wither or not the music is good or not. Those damn stars are now referring to the friggin movie not the SCORE; which is what this page is all about! See the section where it says SOUNDTRACK? Yeah I'm sure you do. I notice it says next to the reviews, that it refers to the DVD review......WHY!? Why put a DVD review next to something that is a damn music review! IDIOTS! I'll buy this just so I can review it and give someone the heads up; I hate it when this BS goes on. I'll let ya know if you should buy it. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 09, 2004 | | Summary | Keaton is a Killer | Content
| Michael Keaton is incredible in this role. His intelligent psychotic killer behavior will awe you. By far one of his best performances. Andy Garcia delivers a great performance as a father who will stop at nothing to save his sons life. When Garcia as a police officer finds that inmate Keaton has the right blood type to give his son bone marrow, the plot thickens. When Keaton escapes and time is critical for Garcia's son, things get very dicey. Fans of "Extreme Measures" should certainly enjoy this movie. The price on this one goes as low as five dollars and ninety nine cents at some sites. Four stars on the replayability meter. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 04, 2004 | | Summary | A Very Enjoyable Film | Content
| Were it not for the use of the "F" word, a number of times, and a few violent scenes, like showing a closeup of a needle being injected into a person, I would class this as a very enjoyable family film (for mature children over 12). It was probably classed as "Restricted" because of some scenes where the criminal threatens the child.
I watched this film on TV with my 11-year-old daughter, and we both really enjoyed it. I thought the actors' performances were fantastic. The reason my daughter enjoyed the film was because it was about a child's situation. I had to explain a few details to her, as we watched, but she was caught up in the story of the child who needed a bone-marrow transplant, and all that happened leading up to it. Andy Garcia plays a very loving father, who will do ANYTHING to help his son, thus overshawding the violence in the film. This is not a film kids under 15 should watch by themselves, but with parents, it would be quite OK.
Michael Keaton turns in a really masterful performance as a serial murderer with a super-high IQ, who manages to turn his supposed aquiescene to the bone-marrow donation into a masterful escape plan. The whole movie is a super piece of suspense. It kept both my daughter and myself on the edge of our seats. My husband arrived toward the end, and said he had previously seen the movie, and had enjoyed it as much as we did. |
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