wes-connors While serving life in a London prison, weighty and morose Brian Cox (as Frank Perry) receives a letter revealing his drug-addicted daughter is in dire straits. Wishing to see her before she expires, Mr. Cox plans a penitentiary escape. His small team of convicted conspirators make their break through London's sewers. We see parallel stories, co-written and directed by Rupert Wyatt, of both the build-up and the break-out. With help from editor Joe Walker and photographer Philipp Blaubach, the cross-cutting is very clever. You can figure out a surprising turn of events if you're watching intently, but some of the details are going to be clearer during a second viewing; the significance of a wool hat, for example...Cox manages to make the sketchy lead engaging; others do less with stereotypical characters. Secondarily noteworthy is Dominic Cooper (as James Lacey), who we're advised reminds Cox of someone he knew long ago. The younger and more shapely Mr. Cooper is marched into prison wearing tight underwear, which leads to the inevitable steamy shower rape; it's an unimaginative storyline, although Steven Mackintosh (as Tony) plays the perpetrator well. Cox' right hand man is otherwise Liam Cunningham (as Brodie). Muscular Joseph Fiennes (as Lenny Drake) and Seu Jorge (as Viv Batista) are trendy in a hoodie and dreadlocks. The prison is run by sauntering, steely-eyed Damian Lewis (as Rizza).****** The Escapist (1/21/08) Rupert Wyatt ~ Brian Cox, Dominic Cooper, Steven Mackintosh, Damian Lewis

billcr12 Frank Perry is a prisoner with a life sentence who receives a letter from his daughter, who has not heard from for fourteen years. She is a drug addict who has overdosed and is near death. First the good; the soundtrack is by Coldplay, and its' darkness matches the overall mood of the film. And now the bad; the non linear style which goes back and forth between the planning, and the actual escape. The underlying drama of the junkie daughter just didn't work for me and it doesn't ever reach the excitement level of The Rock, with Sean Connery, or Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood. Brian Cox is adequate in the lead role, but lacks the star power of Connery or Eastwood. The Escapist is much more low key then the two aforementioned movies. Watch them or, of course, Shawshank Redemption, if you are looking for a prison drama.

BOUF A thoroughly absorbing, gripping British film starring Brian Cox..not a household name like Ajax or Corn Flakes, but you'll recognise him from The Bourne Identity, Match Point…etc..and Joseph Fiennes; and plenty of the others in this cast, who have done lots of solid duty in countless British and American TV and films.. The Escapist is set in a prison, and is a salutary reminder that perhaps you shouldn't borrow more than is necessary from the Tennis Club Christmas Party fund, or carve up a senior bank executive however much encouragement you may receive, because you might end up in jail and if it's anything like the jail in The Escapist, woe betide ye. Brian Cox plays Frank, an old lag, who's in for life and is desperate to get out so he can see his beloved and estranged daughter, who is very ill. Frank with the aid of various fascinatingly shady pals, hatches a brilliant plan to escape through the sewers and tunnels of London, but will they even get out of the nick? It seems unlikely. There are so many evil characters within the jail conspiring to thwart anything they do, and the tension is properly cranked up. It's quite violent MA 15+. At one point, early on in the film I unpeeled a banana, and I was so gripped that when the DVD finished I was still holding half the banana, poised for a bite. Congratulations to all concerned.

Spikeopath On the surface it looked like being a standard prison break out picture. But come the end one can't help admiring the construction of the film and marvel at how the makers used the cons to con the audience in a wholly satisfying way. The set-up is simple enough, Brian Cox's old lag Frank Perry is mortified to hear that his daughter is mixed up with heavy drugs and death is perhaps one more hit away from her. Desperate to get out of prison to save her, he hatches a plan for escape and enlists some other like minded souls, each with their own special "skill" to see it through. What follows is a twinned inter-cut tale as we witness the escape attempt and the prior motivations leading up to said escape. All building towards what one can rightly expect to be a run of the mill ending so evident in most prison based movies......Directed by Rupert Wyatt, The Escapist thrives on claustrophobic atmosphere and grim prison reality to set the wheels in motion. Filmed at Kilmainham Jail in Dublin, this is a dank place, overcrowded and paint peeling from every wall; and of course there's an array of unsavoury characters just waiting to use violence or sexual proclivities to feather their respective nest. This place alone is reason enough for escape attempts, let alone the reasons put forward for our escaping protagonists. The audio on offer also enhances the mood, the clanking of metal or the rumbling of shuffling boots land in the ear drum with almost tenacious glee. There's also no overdose on dialogue, no filler conversations serving no purpose to the crux of the tale.The cast are (prison) uniformly strong, led by the great and weathered Cox, the roll call of escapees also contains earthy Liam Cunningham, a buffed up Joseph Fiennes, a youthfully fraught Dominic Cooper and black magic gusto from Seu Jorge. While within these walls menace comes from a weaselly Steven Mackintosh and the excellently chilling Damian Lewis as nick daddy Rizza. All in all, The Escapist, if you pardon the pun, is a break out movie two fold. Not just as a story, but also in offering up something different in the genre it belongs too. Much like Brian Cox himself, The Escapist is something of a British treasure. 9/10