Karen McCoy - Die Katze

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.

From what I've seen (for the most part), if there's a Trans Am in a movie, then the movie's going to be good. "The Driver", "Smokey and the Bandit", "Donnie Darko", "Blue Thunder", all awesome, and each one proudly displaying a Firebird. Pretty good rule of thumb, thus far.

Not so with the "The Real McCoy", which is mostly a brain-dead affair - in the sense that you can be half-comatose on the couch and still follow the plot. This thing's so formulaic, it doesn't take any brain power to keep up. It's just one heist movie cliché after another. They even manage to waste Terrence Stamp on a vanilla bad guy role (dammit, that should be a federal crime!). It's a little shocking just how meek Kim Basinger comes off here, what with her being the numero-uno cat burglar. Who knows, maybe Catwoman ruined me, but they could've hardened this character.

5/10

This is the sort of movie that will do if nothing else is on, but don't expect too much of it. I guess there is only one good reason to watch it and that is Kim Basinger. I really can't come up with something better.

This is a typical Hollywood bank robbery movie. Nothing wrong with that when it is done right, but The Real McCoy never gets above the average in the genre. The characters as well as the script are average and very shallow. You never get rid of the feeling that you know what is going to happen ... only to see a few minutes later that your feeling didn't betray you.

The bank robbery is perhaps the biggest disappointment. It's unbelievable how these top criminals always seem to know how to avoid every security system thanks to all the gadgets they use (they would make James Bond blush like a little school girl). And then of course we still have the security guards that look like a bunch of idiots that just want to be fooled. Spice this up with a love story that never really takes off and a lot of emotions about a little boy and you know what kind of movie this is.

I just wasn't thrilled after seeing it. I reward it with a 5/10. It just isn't worth more. Too bad.

I'm just a hair or two from labeling the effort above average, though this movie can still supply sufficient entertainment. Were this film to be remade today it would not need much to attain the status of Above Average. I would however abstain from casting the lead with anyone with similar physical attributes as Ms.Basinger only because to date who robs banks and looks like that!! Very "clean" by todays standards for most genre. Terry Stamp plays the villain with just a tad less venom than IS required for his role, he fall short of making me hate him enough, and Val Kilmer does a superb job with portraying his character. All in all absolutely worth the 1 hour & 45 minutes.

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***