Independent Films, Film Profiles

Desperate Measures
by Barbet_Schroeder

Desperate Measures is a 1998 action thriller starring Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, Brian Cox & Marcia Gay Harden.San Francisco police officer Frank Conner (Andy Garcia) is in a frantic search for a compatible bone marrow donor for his gravely ill son, Matt. In desperation, he breaks into FBI headquarters and finds a compatible match to Matt. It is Peter McCabe (Michael Keaton) , an incarcerated sociopath. At first McCabe shows little interest in Conner and his son but then agrees. While Conner, the police chief Cassidy (Brian Cox), and Matt's doctor Hawkins (Marcia Gay Harden) prepare the transplant in the hospital, McCabe is orchestrating an escape plot. The day of the transplant arrives and Conner watches as McCabe is given a sedative. McCabe had earlier gotten an antidrug from an inmate with connections and swallowed it. He also dislocated his thumbs. McCabe dislodges the antidrug to reject the sedative while simultaneously slipping out of his hand restraints. Just as it appears something is wrong, McCabe breaks free, attacks the guards and the runs off. Conner and the police are quickly in pursuit and begin evacuating the hospital.Conner and a fellow officer are able find him. When McCabe is found he holds a scalpal to Hawkins' throat, making Conner drop his gun. When the other officer gets the drop on him, McCabe and Hawkins' reveal that if McCabe dies his bone marrow would be useless. The other officer won't lower his gun, finally forcing Conner to stand in the way of McCabe as he escapes. Before doing so McCabe shoots the officer and kills another with Conner's gun. Cassidy arrives and, after hearing what he did, orders Conner to be taken away. Conner escapes however and returns to the hospital. McCabe next infiltrates Matt's room and takes Hawkins away. He has her find the propane tanks and escapes to lead Conner to him. McCabe causes an explosion and runs off again. McCabe then takes control of the hospital's second building, holding the warden and the guards hostage and locking down the building. Since Matt and Conner's partner have just arrived in the building, Conner and Hawkins make their away over and convince McCabe to let them inside. McCabe is beginning to see over the security cameras that Conner really loves his son (McCabe revealed earlier that he had an abusive father).Hawkins goes to take care of Matt while Conner intervenes when McCabe tries to kill Cassidy and his SWAT team. Enraged McCabe finds Conner at the door to Matt's room and demands to be let in. When inside, McCabe kidnaps Matt and goes to the sublevels of the building with Conner in pursuit. McCabe shows a nicer side to Matt, seeing him as a younger version of himself especially after Matt tries to wound him to give his father a better chance. McCabe finds a sewer passege Conner used as a bargaining chip and escapes into San Francisco through here and Conner follows. After a long chase, Conner traps McCabe on a bridge he has put under lockdown. Cassidy arrives in a helicopter and a sniper fires at McCabe. Conner shields him and is wounded in the shoulder. McCabe then attempts to leave but is shot by Conner, sending him falling off the bridge into the river. Conner dives in and saves him from drowning.A severely wounded McCabe again agrees to the transplant. It is a success and Matt lives. Even though his career is over, Frank Conner is just relieved. In the end, a bedridden Peter McCabe is happy to hear it went well after being informed by a guard. He then states that he "can go now." The guard claims he's tough enough to pull through. McCabe then reveals that he has slipped the guard's gun off of him. He then asks "What kind of car do you have".