Desperate Hours

For the 1955 original film (of which this is a remake), see The Desperate Hours (film).

For the 2007 film with the alternative title Desperate Hours, see Butterfly on a Wheel.

Desperate Hours
Directed by	Michael Cimino
Produced by	Michael Cimino Dino De Laurentiis
Written by	Joseph Hayes (novel, play & screenplay) Lawrence Konner Mark Rosenthal (screenplay)
Starring	Mickey Rourke Anthony Hopkins Mimi Rogers Lindsay Crouse Kelly Lynch
Music by	David Mansfield
Editing by	Christopher Rouse
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	October 5, 1990
Running time	105 min.
Language	English

Desperate Hours is a 1990 remake of the 1955 William Wyler crime drama of the same title. Both films are based on the novel by Joseph Hayes, who also co-wrote the script for this movie with Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal. (Rosenthal and Konner's other collaborations include the screenplay of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.) Desperate Hours stars Mickey Rourke, Anthony Hopkins, Mimi Rogers, Kelly Lynch, Lindsay Crouse and David Morse. It is directed by Michael Cimino, who had previously worked with Rourke on the films Heaven's Gate and Year of the Dragon.

Plot

In Utah, Nancy Breyers (Kelly Lynch) is a defense lawyer who is inexplicably in love with client Michael Bosworth (Mickey Rourke), a sociopathic convict. During a break from a courtroom hearing, Nancy sneaks a gun to Bosworth. After Bosworth snaps a guard's neck, Bosworth and Nancy slip away.

Bosworth tears at Nancy's clothing and leaves her behind, where she will tell authorities Bosworth held her at gunpoint during his escape. He speeds off in a car with his brother Wally (Elias Koteas), and their partner, the hulking, half-witted Albert (David Morse), then changes cars with one Nancy has left for him in a remote location.

Needing a hideout until Nancy can catch up with them, the three settle on the home of decorated Vietnam veteran Tim Cornell (Anthony Hopkins) and Nora Cornell (Mimi Rogers), who have two kids -- 15-year-old May (Shawnee Smith) and her 8-year-old brother Zack (Danny Gerard). Their house with the "For Sale" sign is picked by Bosworth at random.

Tim and Nora are separated due to his infidelity with a younger woman. But when he shows up trying to reconcile with Nora, with whom he is still in love, the two of them find themselves the prisoners of the Bosworth brothers and Albert.

Nancy's innocent act does not fool FBI agent Brenda Chandler (Lindsay Crouse), who puts surveillance on her every move. Nancy eventually cuts a deal with Chandler to have charges against her reduced by betraying Bosworth.

A friend of the Cornells visits the house by chance, so Bosworth shoots him. An anxiety-ridden Albert decides to go off on his own, and is killed by FBI agents on a river bank.

The house is surrounded that night, and Wally is killed in a barrage of FBI bullets. Bosworth holds a gun on Nora and is prepared to use it if Tim interferes. He is unaware that Tim has removed the bullets. Tim drags the criminal outside, where Bosworth ignores the FBI's order to surrender, and is fatally shot.

Cast

• Anthony Hopkins as Tim Cornell
• Mickey Rourke as Michael Bosworth
• Mimi Rogers as Nora Cornell
• David Morse as Albert
• Lindsay Crouse as FBI Agent Chandler
• Kelly Lynch as Nancy Breyers
• Elias Koteas as Wally Bosworth
• Shawnee Smith as May Cornell
• Matt McGrath as Kyle
• Danny Gerard as Zack Cornell

Reception

The film, directed by Michael Cimino, was a commercial disappointment and received split reviews. Critic and movie historian Leonard Maltin referred to the film this way: "Ludicrous...With no suspense, an at-times-laughable music score, and Shawnee Smith as a daughter/victim you'll beg to see cold-cocked." The film holds a 57% "rotten" rating on the reviews aggregation site Rottentomatoes.^[1]

References

1. ^ The Desperate Hours (1990) - Review on Rottentomatoes

External links

• Desperate Hours at the Internet Movie Database
• Desperate Hours at Unofficial french website