Desperate Hours (1990)

The 1955 movie "The Desperate Hours" is a pretty good movie. If it has one flaw, it's that it's now kind of dated in one aspect, that being that the bad guys come across as kind of tame by today's standards. I thought that problem would be fixed in this remake, but surprisingly it isn't. For the most part, Mickey Rourke's character and his two partners don't come across as that threatening. In fact, at times they are almost nice and considerate. Needless to say, it's pretty hard to be creeped out by these guys. Another reason why there's little tension also falls on the protagonists. Though they suffer abuse several times during the course of the movie, except maybe for the young boy Zack, they are not very sympathetic. They don't seem to be suffering that much, and they have attributes that kind of sour themselves towards us, like when it's revealed Hopkins' character had an affair.The characters are the main reason why the movie doesn't work. But there are other problems as well. They include an often inappropriate musical score, several sequences where linking footage seems to be missing, and inappropriate flamboyant directorial touches by the man at the movie's helm, Michael Cimino. The one positive thing I can say about the movie is that it's well photographed by Doug Milsome. Though to tell the truth, I think a more gritty look would have been appropriate for a hostage taking story. Anyway, in the end the only thing audiences will get out of the movie is some explanation as to why Michael Cimino's career never really recovered after "Heaven's Gate".

Michael Cimino's remake of William Wyler's "The Desperate Hours" (1955) is given the 1990 treatment by increasing the amounts of violence, nudity and strong language and adding colour and a number of beautifully-shot outdoor sequences. The gang leader's character has been significantly changed and as a reflection of the period in which this movie was made, the husband and wife whose home is invaded, have become estranged because of the husband's infidelity. The action starts off impressively and its lively pace is maintained throughout the entire film.Michael Bosworth (Mickey Rourke) is a convict who escapes from a courthouse with the help of his defence lawyer and lover, Nancy Breyers (Kelly Lynch) who'd smuggled a gun into the building for him. After killing one of the guards whilst making his getaway, Bosworth is picked up by his brother Wally (Elias Koteas) and his friend Albert (David Morse) and together they drive off to a pre-arranged location to switch to a different car which had been left there by Nancy.Nancy's participation in the escape is made to look enforced and Bosworth and his gang decide to hide out in a rich suburban neighbourhood until she can join them. The house they pick is occupied by Nora Cornell (Mimi Rogers) and her two children, 15-year-old May (Shawnee Smith) and 8-year-old Zack (Danny Gerard). Bosworth conducts himself with a combination of politeness and threatening behaviour and when Nora's cheating husband Tim (Anthony Hopkins) calls by to attempt a reconciliation with his wife, he also becomes a hostage.FBI agent Brenda Chandler (Lindsay Crouse) who's in charge of the manhunt, doesn't buy Nancy's story for a minute and has her watched around the clock in the certain belief that she'll eventually lead them to Bosworth. At the Cornell's house, Albert becomes overwhelmed with anxiety and decides to leave but is soon found and killed by the FBI. When Nancy finally decides to co-operate with the FBI so that she can be given a reduced sentence, the authorities are quickly able to close in on Bosworth and bring their mission to its violent conclusion.The most disappointing feature of this movie for anyone who's seen the 1955 version is that the tension, claustrophobia and intensity of threat that the family are under in the original are all so heavily diluted in this version. Bosworth's character is also a problem because, as a man with an exceptionally high I.Q., he never does or says anything that's even remotely intelligent let alone brilliant.Mickey Rourke provides the movie's best performance as he conveys his character's unusual combination of charm and volatility so well and although it is generally entertaining, "Desperate Hours" never achieves the intensity or impact of the 1955 original.

Despite on paper a very good cast this is a surprisingly weak film. You know you are in cliché-land when the opening shot is of a shapely leg stepping out from a car door taken from ground level. The cliché continues through the description of the main protagonist Rourke as being the ice cold killer with a genius level IQ. This does not play into the rest of the film as he shows an amazing lack of any cunning or even basic planning, based on his ineptitude he would fail to get away with a shoplifting. As for the story it is standard stuff, everyday man gets to prove his mettle to a disillusioned family by taking taking on the cardboard bad guys in a life or death situation. It is also amusing that by far the must brutal people in the movie are the police. Not that they are portrayed as corrupt but the writers opinion seems to be why use a taser when two clips from an automatic weapon get roughly the same result - suspect on floor. Not that bad, not that good. The reason I give it such a low mark is the performances of those who play law enforcement. I can only assume it was directors instructions as they all speak in this strange staccato style in a weird drawling accent, odd and really grating.All in all - don't bother,

I am a big Mickey Rourke fan from his string of hits in the 80's. I kind of fell off the bandwagon during the 90's, finding his choice of films to be somewhat uninspiring. Still a great actor, just seemed to be having some trouble picking quality projects. Seeing 'Sin City' brought me back (great role, great acting, great film!), so I picked up 'Desperate Hours' and watched it last night. While the supporting characters could have been better written (Kelly Lynch & Mimi Rogers' characters fell flat), the scenes between Rourke & Anthony Hopkins were wonderful! Elias Koteas as Rourke's brother was forgettable, but David Morse's character of Albert was very interesting. Somewhat like a big dumb 'Lenny' to Rourke's 'George'. Like another reviewer I was reminded of Humphrey Bogart's 'Duke Mantee' in the 1936 film 'Petrified Forest', but Rourke's 'Michael Bosworth' was a little more homicidal and more of a loose cannon. If you like Rourke & Hopkins, you will enjoy watching 'Desperate Hours.'