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The Escapist

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The Escapist (2009)

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72 %
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Reviews Counted: 32

Fresh: 23

Rotten:9

Average Rating: 6.5/10

Consensus: A tense, smart prison break movie, The Escapist is a sharp debut from director Rupert Wyatt.

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: There is a long tradition of films about prison escapes, such that any new venture into the subject is compelled to add some form of innovation to the well-known narrative elements. The audience... There is a long tradition of films about prison escapes, such that any new venture into the subject is compelled to add some form of innovation to the well-known narrative elements. The audience expects to see a motley crew of cons discern a subtle seam in the prison’s security, which they then exploit with an ingenious combination of resourcefulness and subterfuge, using handmade trinkets to chisel through the walls and into the underground, which represents the darkness just before the dawn of freedom. THE ESCAPIST wraps this familiar package with a beautiful new bow, using a unique structure and a metaphysical twist to freshen up the formulaic plot. The opening scene, which veritably screams references to Guy Ritchie’s SNATCH, shows the felons breaking through the first barrier, and director Rupert Wyatt then alternates the thrilling depiction of the escape with earlier scenes depicting the planning stage of the breakout. Thus, Wyatt dictates the amount of knowledge the audience requires, so that questions about certain aspects of the escape (how did they get through that steel wall? why did they bring that new guy along?) are then systematically addressed by subsequent scenes of the earlier action in the prison. Gradually, everything slips nicely into place, arousing a false sense of mental confidence in the viewer, which will again be shattered before the end of the film. Brian Cox is outstanding in this rare lead role, effortlessly evoking the fatigue and surrender embodied by Frank Perry, a man who has spent the better part of his life in confinement. Other notable performances include Damian Lewis as Rizza, the confidently effete leader of the prison population; Steven Mackintosh as Rizza’s creepy weak link of a brother; and Joseph Fiennes as the thug thief who provides the muscle to enact Perry’s master plan. [More]

Starring: Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Damian Lewis, Steven Mackintosh

Starring: Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Damian Lewis, Steven Mackintosh, Liam Cunningham, Seu Jorge, Dominic Cooper

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Screenwriter: Rupert Wyatt, Daniel Hardy
Producer: Adrian Sturges, Alan Moloney
Composer: Benjamin Wallfisch
Studio: IFC Films

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Reviews for The Escapist

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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An old-fashioned prison breakout yarn and a tight little package of sharp acting, cloying atmosphere and narrative misdirection.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
05/08/09
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

It's swifter, grittier, and louder than the typical escape movie, but it still falls firmly within the tradition of underground breakouts. Its contrapuntal timelines are twisted into a surprisingly elegant first feature.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
04/10/09
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine

The movie was written specifically for Brian Cox, and it’s a great fit.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
04/06/09
Ben Mankiewicz
At the Movies

This is down and dirty and raw.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
04/06/09
Ben Lyons
At the Movies

How much you enjoy this prison drama will depend on your reaction to its fractured, flashback-laced structure. Oh, for the simple, straightforward days of The Big House!

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
04/06/09
David Noh
Film Journal International

There's an intriguing twist to this puzzling escape-from-prison drama, as Brian Cox's convincing performance propels the flasbback/flashforward suspense.

Full Review Source: SSG Syndicate | comment Comment
04/05/09
Susan Granger
SSG Syndicate

A rousing film packed with solid performances and relentless suspense that brilliantly reinvigorates the genre of prison escape thrillers.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
04/05/09
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

Cox is a master of understatement, of using his gloomy eyes, his lined face and the intensity of feeling in a simple gaze or gesture to suggest the full measure of a man.

Full Review Source: Critic's Notebook | comment Comment
04/04/09
Robert Levin
Critic's Notebook

The splintered viewpoints help with the monotony, but from the taunting of new inmates to the cell-block sadist, we've gone through all this before, right down to the final twists.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/03/09
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News

Too much of this movie about prison feels only like a movie about prison, with actors posing and directors getting poetic.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
04/03/09
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

It's simply an experiment in throwing a familiar premise into a blender and seeing how it looks once it's all chopped up.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
04/03/09
Josh Hurst
Christianity Today

A customarily fine performance by Brian Cox and a well-oiled supporting cast are not enough to lift this brutal and listless prison melodrama out of the ranks of ’40s B movie.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/09
Pete Hammond
Boxoffice Magazine

Shapes a standard prison-break drama into a metaphysical study of freedom and reparation.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
04/03/09
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Rupert Wyatt and his co-writer Daniel Hardy have neatly trimmed the fat from this story -- there's almost no character, incident or visual cue that doesn't somehow enhance the plot or set up a surprise or key revelation later on.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
04/01/09
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC

The script flaunts one thwart too many, including a head-slapping gotcha that barely makes sense. The film lacks an exit strategy.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
04/01/09
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

The prison escape movie -- a tired genre -- gets some fresh energy in The Escapist, a compelling, carefully written and totally gripping film from the U.K. that is acted with naturalism and conviction by a smashing cast.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
04/01/09
Rex Reed
New York Observer

Neither more nor less than a solid prison-break thriller.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/09
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

A taut thriller that ends on a note of unexpected grace, the British prison drama The Escapist marks the impressive feature debut for director/co-writer Rupert Wyatt.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
04/01/09
Jean Oppenheimer
Village Voice

Taut, full of soul but with no sentimentality ... the tension is ingrained in the story and the performance by Brian Cox.

Full Review Source: Hollywood & Fine | comment Comment
03/31/09
Marshall Fine
Hollywood & Fine

O bom elenco é desperdiçado por um roteiro que se julga mais inteligente do que é na verdade e por uma direção que acredita imprimir originalidade à narrativa quando, na realidade, está apenas seguindo as batidas convenções do gênero.

comment Comment
03/21/09
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
 
 
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