Michael Keaton's First Post-Batman Role Was A Forgotten Thriller Now Streaming For Free

In 1990's "Pacific Heights," Michael Keaton followed up his starring role in "Batman" by playing a disturbed con artist who makes life hell for a San Francisco couple. It wasn't exactly what audiences might've expected from him, but that was sort of the point. That also makes it worth seeking out, especially since it's now streaming for free on Pluto TV.

When Keaton was cast as Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 blockbuster, the director had to fight to keep him. Fans simply couldn't see Burton's vision of this 5-foot 9-inch comedian portraying the Dark Knight, and they let Warner Bros. know about it. Once the film arrived, however, and Bat-mania defined the summer of 89, those "fans" were very much proved wrong. Keaton was absolutely mesmerizing in the role, playing a stoic and mysterious version of the hero and portraying Bruce Wayne with an awkward, idiosyncratic manner that had us all believing this troubled outcast would actually dress up like a bat and fight criminals at night.

"Batman" was a major box office success (though it likely never made a profit thanks to Jack Nicholson's outlandish back-end deal). While Keaton's star had been on the rise thanks to several high profile roles throughout the 1980s, he was now a bonafide superstar. So, what did he do? Well, before suiting up as Gotham's protector for a sequel, he played an absolutely twisted individual in "Pacific Heights." 

This thriller saw the actor demonstrate yet another facet of his impressive range by playing a villain, something he wouldn't do again until the late-1990s with the oft-overlooked "Desperate Measures." At the time, it was unclear whether he could pull off such a role, but just like he'd done with "Batman," he proved the naysayers wrong with his performance, carrying an otherwise disappointing movie.

By 1990, Michael Keaton had already established his comedic abilities with films such as "Mr. Mom" and "Beetlejuice" and showcased his dramatic chops with 1988's "Clean And Sober" — all of which represent some of the best Keaton movies. Then, with "Batman" he'd finished the decade by proving he could also play a hero. All that was left was for him to convincingly portray a bad guy, and not the lovably devious Beetleguese-kind but an actual villain.

"Pacific Heights" was the answer. Screenwriter Daniel Pyne, who'd previously written on "Miami Vice," set out to write his first movie after he and his wife experienced issues evicting a tenant from their own San Francisco property. In his script, however, he ratcheted everything up to 10, creating a depraved tenant who initially seems perfectly normal but ends up terrorizing his innocent landlords.

Oscar winning filmmaker John Schlesinger of "Midnight Cowboy" and "The Day of the Locust" fame eventually signed on to direct. Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine were cast as Patty Palmer and Drake Goodman, a couple who decides to rent out the first floor of their newly-acquired Victorian home in San Francisco. Keaton was cast as Carter Hayes, a man who seems like the ideal tenant only to reveal a dangerous and violent side. Hayes is a con artist looking to push the couple out of their own property and buy it at a reduced rate. He wages a war against his landlords, withholding rent, carrying out construction at night, and eventually going to criminal extremes when the couple attempts to evict him. Keaton had promised to "get nuts" in "Batman" and with "Pacific Heights" he finally did.

"Pacific Heights" debuted in September 1990 and was Michael Keaton's direct follow-up to "Batman." Whereas Tim Burton's film had been nothing short of a cultural phenomenon, however, "Pacific Heights" was a much smaller project that was never going to match that movie's success. Still, while Keaton must have known that going in, he likely didn't expect such a muted reaction from critics.

"Pacific Heights" failed to make much of an impact despite bringing in a solid $44.9 million in theaters on an $18 million budget. What's more, critics weren't all that impressed, with the film bearing a 53% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes today. Keaton wasn't the target of the reviewers' ire, though. Most were unimpressed with the script, which they felt relied too heavily on well-worn thriller tropes. In his two-star review, for example, Roger Ebert — who had previously bestowed a disappointing two stars to "Batman" (yet would eventually give Samuel L. Jackson's mediocre thriller "Lakeview Terrace" a perfect score; go figure) — accused John Schlesinger of seeming "concerned only with generating the most obvious shock effects." Still, Ebert praised Keaton for playing his nightmare tenant with "a certain effectiveness" that gave Carter Hayes a "smarmy, ingratiating quality of the kind of guy whose smile makes your skin crawl."

A year after "Pacific Heights," Keaton played a good-hearted detective in 1991's "One Good Cop" before once again donning the cowl for 1992's "Batman Returns." Neither of the movies he made between his two legendary Batman appearances are all that well-remembered, but "Pacific Heights" is worth a watch for his inaugural performance as a villain. If you're intrigued, the film is on Prime Video at no extra cost for subscribers and Shout! Studios' YouTube channel, in addition to streaming on Pluto TV (again, for free).