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| “ | You have to appreciate the irony. After all these years of being locked up, I'm given the opportunity to kill again. A cop's kid, too, and all I have to do is sit right here. | „ |
| ~ Peter McCabe taunting Frank Conner. |
Peter McCabe is the main antagonist of the 1998 film Desperate Measures. He is a brilliant, sociopathic career criminal who volunteers to be an organ donor for an FBI agent's cancer-stricken son as part of a plan to escape from prison.
He was portrayed by Michael Keaton, who also played the title character in Beetlejuice, Carter Hayes in Pacific Heights, Trip Larsen in King of the Hill, Chick Hicks in Cars, Ken in Toy Story 3, Walter Nelson Sr. in Minions, Raymond Sellars in the 2014 RoboCop remake, Ray Kroc in The Founder, the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Morbius and V.A. Vandevere in the live-action Dumbo remake.
Personality[]
McCabe is a highly intelligent sociopath and a career criminal who is serving life in prison for several murders. He has attempted escape many times and killed several guards and fellow prisoners, and must be kept in multiple restraints when out of his cell.
McCabe had a traumatic childhood, beaten and bullied by his father until he was old enough to fight back. As a result, he has no conscience and lives by a simple philosophy: Might makes right. He is also extremely manipulative, taking great pleasure in playing with people's minds.
Biography[]
FBI agent Frank Conner contacts him and tells him he is a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant for his son Matthew, who is dying of leukemia. McCabe initially shows little interest in helping Conner, but later finds an opportunity to turn the situation to his advantage and devises a plot to escape. Meanwhile, Conner, along with police captain Cassidy and Matt's physician, Dr. Hawkins, prepare for McCabe to be transferred to the hospital for the transplant.
At the hospital, McCabe is given a sedative. With the aid of a counteracting drug he had obtained from a fellow inmate, McCabe slips out of his restraints, attacks the guards and attempts to escape. Conner and a fellow officer corner him, but McCabe holds a scalpel to Hawkins' throat, prompting Conner to drop his gun. The other officer gets the drop on McCabe, but Hawkins warns the police that if he dies, his bone marrow becomes useless. Conner stands in the way of the other officer; McCabe takes his gun and shoots the officer. McCabe then causes an explosion with propane tanks, seizes control of the hospital's adjacent wing, holds guards hostage and orders a lockdown of the building.
Conner and Hawkins convince McCabe to let them inside so that Hawkins can attend to Matt. Conner intervenes when McCabe is about to ambush Cassidy and his SWAT team with a set of tanks of cyclopropane. McCabe kidnaps Matt and descends to the sub-levels of the building.
Matt tries to wound McCabe to give his father a better chance; impressed, McCabe spares Matt and leaves him at the hospital for Conner to find. McCabe then escapes into San Francisco, where he steals a car. Conner chases McCabe to a bridge, still needing him captured alive. Cassidy and his men arrive in a helicopter and a sniper opens fire. Conner again shields McCabe and is wounded in the arm. McCabe attempts to flee, but Conner is determined not to let him go. Conner wounds McCabe, sending him off the bridge and into the bay. Conner then dives in and saves him.
Back in the hospital, a wounded McCabe agrees to the transplant, which saves Matt's life. McCabe is informed by a guard that the surgery went well. Moments later, McCabe steals the guard's firearm and holds him hostage, asking, "What kind of car do you have?".