The Real McCoy

source: The Real McCoy

In the 1993 movie "The Real McCoy" I'm positive Nell Carter is in one of the opening scenes as a server in the diner where Karen McCoy (Kim Basinger) is trying to get a job. She only has a couple of lines speaking with Kim Basinger, but I'm telling you this because it seems unfair to me that the late Nell Carter is not included in the credits. She was a great actress who I loved in the movie "Modern Problems".

Kim Basinger and Val Kilmer make an attractive couple in "Highlander" director Russell Mulcady's "The Real McCoy," but this miscast couple kindles little chemistry. "Johnny English" scenarists William Osborne and William Davies drew their inspiration for this lackluster Universal Pictures release from the Desmond Lowden novel "Bellman and True." The conflict is that the greedy, despicable villain kidnaps a professional criminal's son and forces her to rob a bank before they turn him loose. The haul is an $18 million plus payday, and a well-heeled Atlanta criminal bankrolls the endeavor. Meanwhile, our heroine—fresh out of prison after serving 6 years of a 10 year sentence—struggles to go straight, but she is swept back into the storm. Karen McCoy (Kim Basinger of Never Say Never Again") was also married. After she leaves the Athens Correctional Facility, she learns that her worthless ex-husband, Radly (Alex Van) has told her son that she is dead. Radly informs Karen that he burned all the letters that she sent to her son Patrick. During a convenience store stick-up during a rainy night, Karen encounters a bumbling criminal, J.T. Barker (Val Kilmer of "Batman Forever"), whose pistol falls apart at the scene of the crime. Later, J.T. informs his distant (Terence Stamp) relative about her. J.T.'s relative is none other than Jack Schmidt; he is the same guy who used Karen on a previous job. Karen blew that hold-up at the Atlanta Union Bank and she received a 10 year sentence. Karen wins parole but has the ill luck to land a corrupt parole supervisor, Gary Buckner (Gailard Sartain), who takes her to see Schmidt. This is another one of those impossible crime capers that Mulcady imbues will reasonable suspense and tension. The protagonists have to find a way to break in and escape despite the precautions that the bank has put in place to thwart criminals. What is different here is that our heroine remotely triggers the alarms repeatedly to wear out the security guards and the Atlanta police. Eventually, the authorities decide that nobody is trying to hold up the facility. Instead, they figure that a flaw in the system activates the alarm so they give it. This is a neat example of the man who cried 'wolf' scenario. At the same time, the filmmakers devise a way for the heroine to succeed without pulling off the robbery because she is supposed to be sympathetic. In other words, "The Real McCoy" succeeds as an incredible caper movie but the heroines don't make society suffer. The chief surprise occurs when our heroine turns the tables on her adversaries. Mulcady and his scribes make the villains look thoroughly reprehensible, particularly Gailard Sartain. The last minute scene on the airport runaway gets pretty tense. Terence Stamp makes a grim criminal. Basinger defends herself well enough, especially when she knees a thug in the groin and disarms him. Furthermore, Basinger isn't required to disrobe. Val Kilmer has his stupid act down pat. Mind you, Mulcady never lets thing dawdle. The scenes in the bank as the cops find themselves being summoned for one more time are amusing. The best thing about "The Real McCoy" is that the heroine and her son gets away. Meantime, she exacts revenge on Jack and his evil cronies. "The Real McCoy" is formulaic material presented with a modicum of style. Basinger looks beautiful in every outfit that she dons.

A woman is released from prison, an expert bank robber who wants to settle down and go straight. But then her parole officer and her former employer try to get her to pull one more heist.... This film is just basically the dramatic version of the notorious Bruce Willis vanity project 'Hudson Hawk', but with all the entertainment and fun taken out of it. The film disappeared without a trace when released here in November 1993, and if my facts are correct, I don't think it's ever been screened on T.V. Basinger is fine as the titular character, forced into one last job when her son is taken by General Zod, and her parole officer. But she get's to know her son, even though he thinks she is just a friend, and her real mother is dead. Hence 'The Real McCoy'. Val Kilmer visits from the set of True Romance as the potential love interest, but he mugs his way through his scenes, and acts like a complete and utter ego maniac, maybe life imitating art. It's not very exciting, the crew never appear to be in any danger, and then it finishes, where everyone predictably lives happily ever after. She should have stuck with Boxing Helena, it may be just as bad, but at least it's well remembered.

Not sure why this film gets trashed as much as it does, since it's pretty good. It's worth watching for the cast alone -- Basinger, Kilmer and Stamp. But it must be said that the British film upon which it's based is better. That would be Bellman and True (from an old English song) starring a cast of people that you probably never heard of, headlined by Bernard Hill as the computer geek who has to go along to keep his son safe. Bellman and True also serves as something of a time capsule, taking us back to a grotty, depressed and depressing London that is barely visible in British films any more. We can probably put the change in tone down to the Four Weddings effect. The comparison of these two movies serves as an excellent example of one of the more interesting questions of popular culture: why are the Brits generally so much better at movies that feature crime than Hollywood? Think of Cracker, State of Play, Prime Suspect, Behind The Lines, and Mobile.

This is the sort of film that will do if nothing else is on but not much else. Its a heist film with Kim Basinger and Val Kilmer and everything in it has been done before and done better. The bank robbery at the end is a bit of a let down because it just seems too easy. It was directed by the man who brought us the fabulous Highlander, but sadly also the truly awful Highlander 2, this film is somewhere in between. The only plus points are the always great to look at Kim Basinger, and Val Kilmer in a different sort of role to his usual stuff. I think Kim Basinger is a great actress but like most females in Hollywood seems to struggle to get decent films to star in, not counting the awesome LA Confidential of course. All in all a very average film ***5/10***

This starts off truly promising with a very independent Kim Basinger in a bad situation, a parolee just out of prison for having robbed a bank and unable to make her way in a new life thanks to her slimy parole officer, an uncaring ex-husband and a criminal mastermind (Terence Stamp). Outside of a few minor characters that she meets along the way, the only one that seems to care about her is Val Kilmer, a young man who followed her case and happens to see her in her parole officer's office building. He follows her around, questions for about everything, and takes her out to lunch when no one else will give her the time of day. When her parole officer seemingly is making a pass at her, my discust for the film began, but then it was revealed that he was in cahoots with Stamp and that's when I realized what a bomb this was going to be. There are so many stupid elements within the film, starting with the scene where her ex arranges to meet her to give her belongings that have been in storage, and their son walks in. Obviously if he didn't want her to see him, he would not have brought him. Basinger gives him a deserving slap across the face (which in reality would have landed her back in the hole), and later, she knees the gun carrying gangster associate of Stamp's in the groin, grabs his gun (with no gloves, leaving fingerprints), throws it and walks away. Obviously she could have been set up for any crime with that happening. Right after the confrontation with Stamp and her parole officer, she finds out that her son has been kidnapped as a way of getting her to pull a heist, and this leads her into a one way battle to find her son. From here, the film just gets more ridiculous, with only one element to save it, the feisty performance of Basinger whom I felt sorry for both for her character's situation and the very flawed script. This film really had potential and they really blew it. It's watchable in spite of all these absurdities, and it's amazing that facing or comes out of this smelling like a rose even though the film is covered in sewage.

After an opening worthy of "Mission: Impossible", Karen McCoy ends up spending six years in prison. When she gets out, she finds out her ex Roy Sweeney has told her son Patrick that she is dead. Her parole officer Gary Buckner doesn't want her to succeed and is being very demanding. She can't seem to get a good job. Not only that, but Roy is having financial problems. And J.T. (who is working with Jack Schmidt) is a devoted fan who wants Karen to pull another bank job. Atlanta Union Bank is so secure no one can get in. But she can. Karen wants to go straight, but Schmidt is so determined to see her go back to crime that he threatens Karen's son Patrick, who knows Karen only as his mother's friend. How will Karen get out of this situation? I can say there is a bank robbery, and one with quite a bit of intelligent planning, deception and even humor, though not quite on a par with, say, "Ocean's Eleven". The question is: does Karen get involved, and if so, is she being honest with those involved in the bank job? Kim Basinger's character is quite good-looking but also very smart and able to get things done. Nick Searcy and Gailard Sartain could have traded roles, but I think the choices in casting them are ideal. Sartain has never been more convincing in a serious role that I have seen, even though he generally plays buffoons. Searcy has been the Frank Burns type in "Seven Days", so he could have easily done the sadistic parole officer (actually, he's more like Montgomery Burns), but I like him as the buffoon. Once Karen got out of prison, the movie started out slow but eventually ended up satisfying. You won't believe the ending!

Cat burglar Karen McCoy (Kim Basinger) is released from prison after 6 years for the bank robbery. She's on parole with only the suit she went to court with. Her ex told her son Patrick that she's dead. Gary Buckner is her harsh parole officer. J.T. Barker (Val Kilmer) is an incompetent robber eager to be in her next job. She's trying to go straight but nobody is willing to hire an ex-con. J.T.'s relative Jack Schmidt (Terence Stamp) wants her to do one more job. Buckner threatens Karen with more prison unless she does the job. When she refuses, Patrick is kidnapped. The first half sets up for a solid caper movie. Everything is against Karen. She's the underdog with a heart of gold. The caper is functional. It's at least six years since Karen has done a job and she is still up to date with security tech. It's hard to imagine her ex holding off calling the cops. There are a few little things that add up to a less compelling caper movie.

Only 19 reviews, mine included, let's keep it that way, because some movies can better be forgotten. The bad: trying to cast Kim Basinger as a specialized thief was wrong from the start. There is not a single thread of danger coming from Kim Basinger. She is so lovely, so vulnerable, NOT in any way can I perceive her in her role as a criminal. More bad: other roles are miscast as well. A total dork (really) was supposedly the ex of the gorgeous Kim Basinger. What were they thinking? Even mored bad: the dialogues are so annoyingly bad, that I skip forward to the heist scenes. But even those heist scenes werent thrilling. What a disaster.