Cinema Revisited: The Real McCoy

Directed by Russell Mulcahy. Cast: Kim Basinger, Val Kilmer, Terrence Stamp, Gailard Sartain. Released September 10, 1993. 105 minutes.

Kim Basinger is a former top level bank robber who is released from prison and just wants to go straight. However, her young son is kidnapped and the kidnappers demand that she rob a bank for them before they'll let the child go. She pretends to go along with them while trying to figure out a way to grab the child and escape where he's being held before she commits the crime.

Despite a good cast, "The Real McCoy" is a predictable heist drama with dated elements (e.g. jokes about Betamax tapes) and all of the perfunctory suspense moments (a car that won't start during an escape -- once it does start it breaks down after a few yards -- meanwhile the crooks are fast approaching -- etc).

Sometimes predictability and recycled ideas will amount to a decent B-level actioner with no pretentions beyond merely visceral entertainment. But "The Real McCoy" fails at that level as well. Because, for a film to work on that level, it has to remain compelling, exciting, humorous, intriguing. "The Real McCoy" has none of this. It just plods through the motions utilizing hackneyed ideas.

Basinger's character disguises herself as a depositer, goes to the bank's safe deposit box areas, takes a look at the vault, and attempts to figure a way to break into the bank. The conflict is that since she has been in prison, banks have become more sophisticated with their security measures, and the new technology causes a greater challenge. The crooks who are blackmailing her are unmovied, Terrence Stamp evilly stating: "I can hear the sobs of a child who wonders if he is ever going home." The thing is, the child never seems to be in any danger. He is living in the plush surroundings of the blackmailer's home, with both his mother and father. While mom is figuring out how to break a bank's security, dad is shown playing with the cheerful laughing boy in the pool. During a car washing scene they all run around laughing spraying each other with the hose. It would appear that leaving these surroundings and returning to the limitation of his parents' limited means would hardly be an upgrade. The child is young enough to think this is something of a vacation.

Also, Basinger is refraining from telling the child she is his mother. It takes most of the film to figure out why, and even then it doesn't seem all that feasible.

It is difficult to invest in the characters, be compelled by the narrative, or have any sense of danger of suspense. It is no wonder why "The Real McCoy" was critically panned and bombed at the box office.

Sometimes it is interesting to watch a movie one has never seen, and that has made no discernible impact, just to see if it has anything to offer. "The Real McCoy" doesn't.