 |
| Character-poster for Rupert Wyatt's The Escapist |
Our friend Frank Perry is in prison, has been for years. But now he gets his first letter in there, informing him that his 14 year-old daughter is dying on drugs. So he wants out. And with the help of a few friends ...
This English movie seems to really have its fans, though I am not among them. It is loosely based on the old, famous Ambrose Bierce short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and on the basic idea to write a lead for Brian Cox (L.I.E. (2001)), who had worked with the co-writer director before in the short Get the Picture (2004).
As a prison escape picture, I think The Escapist has some severe problems:
First of all, I think it ruins its own suspense by showing us flash forwards time and again from the coming escape. So we know who will be around and thereby can be certain that they'll survive any coming trials leading up to the escape. The escape in itself is also never very exciting due to these confusing flash forwards.
It is also a shame that the escape plan is so elusive. We see our escape team do a lot of specific, small things, but how it all comes together, we haven't the slightest idea. That's pretty terrible.
Another disengaging problem is the many tunnel and water scenes, which are often so dark that we can't see what's going on. The low budget lighting is not well accomplished in any scene with few or no visible light sources.
Then there's the fact that none of the characters ever even brush upon why they're in prison in the first place. We don't need them to all be wrongfully convicted to root for them, but I think we do need some kind of dialog at least about their crimes in order to accept them in any way as our heroes.
So, how does The Escapist manage to not be a complete turkey then? Some good scenes and actors that you will want to follow regardless of the film's serious impediments.
Cox has a good movie-face and does well. He's no Clint Eastwood, so the film is a far cry from the pinnacle in the genre, Escape from Alcatraz (1979). Instead it tries to be something else, weaving a more poetic, subjective angle into it, which didn't win me completely, but I don't reject it completely either. It is certainly, - along with the ambiguous title of the film, - the reason why some have hailed The Escapist as a very smart film.
Overall, though, I'd say it's a pretty overrated film.
The details:
Besides Cox, Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers, TV-miniseries (2001)) impresses in The Escapist, playing a really ugly (figuratively speaking of course) bastard.
Dominic Cooper plays eye candy and a prison sex object; Seu Jorge has a part as a khat expert, but SPOILER dies in the most clichéd manor, (killing the only black character right before salvation is such an outdated cliché, too.) Joseph Fiennes really underwhelms, and seems like he is hiding under his hoodie for most of the film.
British film critics called The Escapist all kinds of wonderful things when it came out, which just shows the prejudiced hunger for great local films that is so prevalent in critical circles everywhere. This film unfortunately isn't.
It is the feature debut of Rupert Wyatt, who got himself a swell gig after it, - impressive since The Escapist was a flop, - Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), the decent reiteration of the Apes franchise. He is now busy doing the remake The Gambler (2015) with Mark Wahlberg and Jessica Lange.
Related posts:
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Another film based on Ambrose Bierce's An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge: The Bridge/The Spy (1929) - Time-playing fine short debut of Charles Vidor
- If this trailer looks incredibly exciting to you; don't believe the hype. But if you feel like seeing this showcase picture, then just go ahead and do it
Budget: Unknown
Box office: 0.3 mil. $
= Huge flop
What do you think of The Escapist?
Other Brian Cox-films that you like?
No comments:
Post a Comment