Escapist, The

Ireland / UK 2008, 102 minutes
Dir. Rupert Wyatt
Genres: Suspense/Crime / Prison

Feat. Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes

Aroview: This straight-up escape movie delivers all the thrills and spills of the durable prison genre, with old-timer Brian Cox hatching a master plan to breakout of a dingy British jail in time to see his ailing daughter.

First-time dir. Waytt stylishly calls the shots from within the sturdy confines of prison lore, allowing himself a few flourishes (stripped-back dialogue, an eccentric soundtrack) amidst the steady box checking. While not particularly engaging as a character piece, nor envelope pushing as a suspense piece, the film grabs you with its no-nonsense attitude, and aims to please with a satisfying break out sequence (which holds up, despite being revealed through disjointed flashbacks).

NZ International Film Festival 2008

Member Reviews

Average rating (Good Try). Showing 1-1 of 1 member reviews.

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2 stars (Good Try) The escape is pretty thrilling, with its Michael Nymanish score driving things along, and there's plenty of ACTING on display, but this seemed like a fairly pointless exercise to me. Something for the director's CV? ~HiFi