Doc (Alec Baldwin) and Carol McCoy (Kim Basinger) are a married criminal couple. Rudy Travis (Michael Madsen) comes to them with a job. A drug lord wants to break out his nephew from American prison. In reality, he just wants to kill him. They bring him to Mexico. Rudy abandons Doc who is captured by the Mexican police. Carol uses all her sexual wilds to get mob boss Jack Benyon (James Woods) to help get Doc released. Jim Deer Jackson (David Morse) is Benyon's right hand thug. Benyon puts Doc in charge of a dog track robbery. He's forced to lead newcomer Frank Hansen (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and reunite with Rudy. Rudy tries to double-cross him again. He shoots Rudy who survives. Rudy first takes the Carveys hostage and then takes the wife Fran Carvey (Jennifer Tilly) as his partner.Relationship complications complicates this violent crime relationship movie. This is a remake of the 1972 Sam Peckinpah movie. Real life husband and wife Basinger and Baldwin inject problematic relationship flow. I understand the attempt but it's hard to fall for this couple. They are an old married couple who is just as ready to fight as to make passionate love. It's movie life come true and nobody will cry over a divorce. The violence is fitting for a Peckinpah remake but others have taken up the mantle and surpassed it. There are some interesting aspects to this movie but also enough problems to sink it.

The original 1972 Sam Peckinpah version of "The Getaway" might have its flaws, but this remake has nothing but flaws.To begin with, Alec Baldwin is no Steve McQueen. He's not even a Butterfly McQueen. His version of Doc is as dull as McQueen's is watchable. Kim Basinger fares a bit better, but then again Ali MacGraw was never all that great an actress to begin with either.The only strengths of this movie are James Woods and Michael Madsen as the bad guys--and its as nice to see Richard Farnsworth in this version as it was seeing Slim Pickens in the original.But screenwriter Amy Holden Jones is no Walter Hill, Baldwin is no McQueen and director Roger Donaldson is at best a journeyman, certainly no Peckinpah.When you see this in the pile of cheapo videos at Walmart, throw it back. Get away!

The Getaway is a remake of the 1970s movie with the same name starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. This time around with some minor changes the movie comes out pretty aggressively with excellent action scenes. The chemistry between Baldwin and Basinger sizzles as does the action in the sweltering Arizona and Texas deserts.James Woods and David Morse are pretty debonair as smartly dressed villains not to mention the brute character depiction of Rudy by Michael Madsen which he repeats in Reservoir Dogs many years later. The story is pretty good but character development and dialogues are pretty weak. Though no one can replace McQueen, Baldwin's caper is not that far behind.

This was a very entertaining, if morally way below par, action movie which consistently keeps your attention with intense scenes. Kim Bassinger probably looked as good as she ever looked which is saying a lot. She has one of the steamiest scenes I've ever seen on a mainline film (my tape was the "unrated" version) but at least it was with her real-life husband (at the time) Alec Baldwin.This re-make of the 1972 film also has Michael Madsen, James Woods, Mike Morse and Jennifer Tilley - all playing sleazy characters. They are so bad they make Baldwin & Bassinger look like monks. This movie is not exactly Mary Poppins. There's almost too much of a mean edge to it....almost. Perhaps I enjoy ogling Bassinger too much to can this movie for its baseness.Whatever, this entertains to the degree that it makes it a very quick two hours. There is no way you could get bored watching this film.