by Nathan David Black

Desperate Measures opens with detective Frank Conner (ANDY GARCIA) and his buddy Jeremiah Cassidy (Brian Cox III) breaking into an FBI building to crack into the national data base. The reason for this break-in is that Frank is looking for someone that has a DNA match for his son, Matthew (JOSEPH CROSS), who is dying of leukemia and is in "desperate" need of a bone marrow transplant. The only perfect match is a convicted murderer named Peter McCabe (MICHAEL KEATON). From here, Frank visits Peter and eventually convinces him to do the transplant in return for a few favors to make his life in prison a bit more bearable. And then we go into the inevitable escape of Peter McCabe with Frank attempting to capture Peter without killing him (because his bone marrow becomes useless to Matthew if he dies).

The script seems to be the main liability of this film. Within the first 5 minutes we observe a break-in that would have immediately thrown Frank and Jeremiah into jail once the feds saw the video of them entering the building and garnered the testimony of the guard that Frank holds at bay with a gun. Would it have really been that hard to work something plausible here? Maybe something along the lines of Frank having a friend that works for the FBI who can obtain the information? Then there is the lead up to Peter's escape. Without seeing any of the reviews or trailers of this film, just about anyone can sense this coming on. A talented writer could have salvaged this really rather basic plot and turned it into a believable story. It is also very disheartening that a director such as Barbet Schroeder (Reversal of Fortune) even agreed to direct this film in the first place without there first being some major rewrites. He could have also worked a bit harder at maintaining continuity in Peter McCabe's persona.

In regards to the acting, Andy Garcia seemed to be attempting an Alan Alda "Mr. Sensitive" type of father/man on a mission and was only a small step above tolerable. Michael Keaton played his part well, but his acting is overshadowed by the inconsistencies in Peter McCabe's personality. Without his performance, this film would have been a complete wash but even this is not even enough to make one recommend this film as a video rental. Joseph Cross did a decent job at playing a child that has had to grow up too quickly because his mother died when he was young and he is living at the edge of death every day. The rest of the actors basically did their job well, but there where really no standouts other then the above mentioned.

From the loose foundation of the script, this film just goes deeper and deeper into a sinkhole of its own making. This movie on a whole was a forgettable waste of 100 minutes and the price of admission.

PSYCHO AMERICANA

by Jenifer Blue

My musings regarding the film Desperate Measures are serendipitously symphonic with the execution of pick-axe murderer Karla Faye Tucker. Ms. Tucker pled for clemency based on the reformation of her character; numerous persuasive personalities gave testimony to the profoundly positive changes that had occurred in both Ms. Tucker's spirit and character since receiving the death penalty as punishment for the heinous crimes she committed 15 years ago . Her appeals were ultimately denied and her execution at the Huntsville, Texas prison facility attracted fanatical spectator'ism symbolizing a frenzied climax to the building media binge which satellited Ms. Tucker prior to her execution Ted Bundy's execution in Florida attracted the same compelling response of riveted interest. Is it the criminal or is it the extermination of the criminal that captivates us? Is execution a criminal act in itself, thus compounding the initial criminal intrigue but in a sideways way? Can a criminal reform, shapeshift their character? Do we encourage or permit potential reformation of criminals to occur?

The release of Desperate Measures was timely, in sync with the splinters that are curling from the collective concept of criminal reformation. The protagonist of this film, Frank Conner (portrayed by the ever kooky Andy Garcia), is a law-enforcement man who needs a bone marrow donor for his 9 year old son, Matthew (portrayed by the angelically aura'd Joseph Cross). A perfect marrow match is found, however the potential donor is an imprisoned criminal, Peter McCabe (portrayed by energetic as always Michael Keaton). McCabe is nearly identical in anatomical terms to young Matthew but is at the same time a character antithesis to both the exceptionally cute and pristine Matthew and his crime-fighting father, Frank Conner. The title of the film suggests the lengths that Frank Conner is willing to stretch in order to give his dying son life.

Peter McCabe fulfills the American Psycho Film Archetype (and also the serial killer's personality profile as dictated by the FBI ): he has committed heinous crimes; he has revealed no evidence of a conscious; he is considered especially dangerous because he dons an IQ of 150 (this is getting into Einstein terrain; this type of brain power could light up a city or spread shadows over it); his mental stealth provides him mastery in the art of eluding and escape.

Frank Conner visits Peter McCabe in prison and essentially gives the pitch of his life in order to obtain McCabe's marrow. Peter McCabe is shackled, strapped, and pretty much physically contained to the ultimate limit while in the presence of the desperate, will-not-take-no for an answer, Frank Conner. Hannibal Lector (a.k.a. "Hannibal the Cannibal"), the eerie serial killer of Silence of the Lambs, is the only other imprisoned film psycho that I have seen elicit such severe fear that exhaustive precautions of prisoner containment seemed to require made-to-order, neo-medieval inventions of restrainment.

Michael Keaton portrayed Peter McCabe and although this was an interesting thought prior to viewing the film, his performance was a bit too warm and zany for a psycho americana. Michael Keaton reminds me of a cartoon (he did play Batman); he is pouncy, impish, and, well, animated. I kept hearing the rolling rises and cascades of Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring as I watched Peter McCabe move through the landscape of this film. Michael Keaton is so appealing to me (and conversely Andy Garcia is so unappealing) that I found myself going through internal pep squad drills and scissor kicks on behalf of Peter McCabe.

Like Hannibal Lector, Peter McCabe has an opportunity to partly redeem himself by performing an act of samaritanism for the society that he once ravaged, terrorized. Hannibal Lector was asked to utilize his ingenuity and homicidal experience to assist a novice FBI agent profile and capture a killer while Peter McCabe is asked to literally give something of himself to save the life of a good person whose life is really just beginning. In both scenarios the criminal acquiesces, however their redemptive'ish behavior is steamy with oblique mixed messages because we don't entirely trust them, we aren't supposed to.

Silence of the Lambs unfolds predominantly in darkness, fusing with the covert nature of the FBI. Conversely, Desperate Measures unfolds predominantly in broad daylight as an explosive spectacle zenithed in the public eye. The few private moments that are revealed between Frank Conner and his son are useful in that we witness Matthew's concern that an evil person's marrow, the core of his physical essence, will merge with his own good essence. Is Peter McCabe innately evil, a bad seed? Or has some of his psychotic behavior been sculpted by the influences of both his personal upbringing and of societal attitudes and trends? We are not given enough information to determine the motivating factors of Peter McCabe's behavior, we are merely viewing a two hour bout of good and evil duke'ing it out. The idealism of Peter McCabe's reformation doesn't pan out; if it did, there wouldn't be an action/suspense movie to view.

America has proven a perpetuating interest in psychos, after all the United States produces more real and created-for-media psychopaths than any other place in the world. Television is a genre that constantly documents and displays lives of psycho killers whether we are viewing a TV movie of the week or whether we are viewing the 11:00 news. Biography, the well respected TV series from the Arts & Entertainment Network, has devoted episodes to horrific killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer. An Unwelcome Stranger, a made-for-TV docudrama, followed the life of serial killer Ted Bundy. Hollywood produces scads of psychos; Norman Bates of Psycho created the mold of the nouveau psychopathic- killer-in-film profile. Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers produced such a ghastly primal ambiance that I felt a raw sense of disorientation for several hours post viewing because I actually felt as if I had gotten lured into the skin of the killers. Serial Killer Trading Cards are in circulation and people actually travel miles with hand painted, painfully-pun'd signs in order to inch nearer to a highly publicized execution of a killer. Why?

Perhaps, we need to view evil in order to affirm that, yes, our individual and collective feet are firmly planted on good, solid, righteous ground. Without a malevolent reference point, can we really gauge benevolence? Tony Montana, the ex-Cuban Guerrilla turned Florida Drug Czar of Scarface, drunkenly confronts the diners of a pricey, plush Florida restaurant; Tony insists that they, all of them, should "look at me, look at the bad guy, because you all need a bad guy to point your fucking fingers at."

The sparring between good and evil often coheres the American spirit. When President Bush decided to blast Saddam Hussein, a strange patriotic haze settled into the collective American state of mind because the United States portrayed itself as the Hero riding into the Mideast on a white horse while bellowing HiHoSilver; America was going to defeat evil damn it (read our lips). When serial killer at large Richard (a.k.a. The Night Stalker) Ramirez was spotted on a Los Angeles street, the predominantly Latino denizens of the neighborhood spontaneously, passionately, and effectively posse'd and captured the serial killer who had been terrorizing Los Angeles for months. It is worth noting that Richard Ramirez also attracted groupies after his capture; young girls would gather and squeal in his presence as he was shuffled from court to prison. Like many other highly publicized psychopathic murderers in prison, Mr. Ramirez received vast amounts of fan mail at the height of his notoriety.

Moral infighting within the United States is particularly interesting and oxymoron'ish. Groups that attempt to force or torque reformation into the shape of their own moral codes will often contradict themselves while fighting so ardently for their beliefs to prevail. The more zealous of anti-abortion movements send life threatening messages to doctors who perform the legal procedure, bomb clinics where the procedure is performed, and have also succeeded in killing people while pursuing their mission (which is ironically self-identified as pro-life). It is illegal to commit premeditative murder, yet murderers can be ordered to be executed by a state at a particular, premeditated time.

Perhaps, what we individually and collectively deem as evil assists us in better identifying our own values because something inside of us arises and wants to fight for right. Desperate Measures presents another stab at good versus evil while dismissing the potential of polarization to occur on either side of the moral coin.

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