NORMAN — In 2008, ThinkFilm, a company that specializes in distributing independent films, announced that they had purchased the rights to “The Escapist,” a brilliant British drama about a prison break that had earned raves at the Sundance Film Festival.
With an extraordinary cast, an amazing musical score and a great twist ending, “The Escapist” had all the makings of a sleeper hit and was a possible Oscar contender. “The Escapist” was scheduled to hit theaters with much fanfare in October that year. It didn’t quite make it.
Beset by financial problems and poor management, ThinkFilm was almost broke by October, unable to afford a publicity campaign for “The Escapist” or secure decent bookings for it. “The Escapist” played to American audiences on only two screens for two weeks, grossing a paltry $13,000.
Fortunately, “The Escapist” is finally available to audiences everywhere on DVD. It’s thrilling enough, if you have a good TV — and if your sound system is state-of-the-art, I envy you.
Our story takes place in an English prison, a giant, crumbling place full of corrupt guards and convicts with no futures. Frank Perry (Scottish actor Brian Cox) is one of them. He’s lost everything — his wife, his beloved daughter and his freedom.
Frank is a lifer, and while he accepted his sentence long ago, it doesn’t help to ease his pain or the tremendous guilt he feels. There’s nothing to live for, really. It’s only a question of how long it will take him to die.
Frank’s been in the joint 14 years now, all spent with no contact from his family. He follows the same routine every day, keeping pretty much to himself and out of the way of thugs like Rizza (Damien Lewis), an effeminate young con who pretty much runs the prison. The place is full of young cons, in fact, always ready for a fight. Frank is too old for such nonsense; he prefers to read or play chess with his only friend, Brodie (Liam Cunningham), a fellow lifer.
That is, until a letter from home arrives. It’s from Frank’s wife, and the news is bad. Frank’s daughter Lisa, who was only seven when he went to prison, is now a 21-year-old drug addict. She overdosed recently and suffered two heart attacks. She’s on life support and is not expected to make it.
Frantic with worry and fresh guilt, Frank is determined to see his baby and make things right. There’s no chance he’ll be granted a furlough, which leaves only one alternative. He’ll have to break out, and he can’t do it alone. There’s no question Frank is leaving, one way or the other.
First-time director Rupert Wyatt takes us on a breathtaking journey, switching back and forth between the actual prison break and all the planning that leads up to it. The ending reveals why the story couldn’t be told any other way, and while you might think it’s a cheat (I kind of did at first), remember that Frank just wants to get out; it doesn’t matter where he goes.
There isn’t a role in “The Escapist” that isn’t perfectly cast, with a superb Brian Cox (robbed of an Oscar nomination) heading the pack. And Benjamin Wallfisch’s musical score is fantastic (also Oscar-robbed). My only complaint is that the accents are a bit difficult to decipher, so you might want to put on the subtitles.
You can find “The Escapist” (rated R for language, drug use and disturbing prison situations) at Hastings in new releases. Check it out!
