The Real McCoy * (1993, Kim Basinger, Val Kilmer, Terence Stamp) – Classic Movie Review 10,743

Director Russell Mulcahy’s 1993 film The Real McCoy stars Kim Basinger as Karen McCoy, an expert cat-burgling ex-con trying to go straight, who gets out of prison but is dragged back into a life of crime by bank robber Jack Schmidt (Terence Stamp), in this flashy but ordinary and creaky heist action thriller.

A routine plot, based on a novel by Desmond Lowden, is predictably developed, and there is not a single fresh idea in sight despite Mulcahy’s urgent efforts to tart it all up with eye-catching shots and startling lighting.

Basinger is a solid presence at the film’s centre, but Val Kilmer makes no headway as J.T. Barker, sidelined as a two-bit crook, one of Schmidt’s people, along with her for the ride and Stamp is like a duck out of water with his phony southern American accent and posturing grimaces.

The plot starts with Karen McCoy (Basinger) being caught while doing a bank job and, after she has served her jail term, Karen’s boss Schmidt (Stamp) abducts her young kid to force her into his plan to have another go at robbing it.

Also in the cast are Gailard Sartain, Zach English, Raynor Scheine, Deborah Hobart, Pamela Stubbart, Andy Stahl, Dean Rader-Duval, Norman Maxwell and Marc Macaulay.

The Real McCoy is directed by Russell Mulcahy, runs 105 minutes, is made by Bregman/Baer Productions, Capella International and Connexion Film Productions, is released by Universal Pictures (1993) (US) and Guild Film Distribution (1993) (UK), is written by William Davies and William Osborne, is shot by Denis Crossan, is produced by Martin Bregman, Michael S Bregman and Willi Baer [Willi Bär], and scored by Brad Fiedel, with Production Design by Kim Colefax.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,743

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