INESCAPABLE is a TAKEN-style thriller set in Syria just before that country descended into the war which is still on-going. It's a rather cheap and uninteresting production that fails to ignite the screen, despite the best intentions of writer and director Ruba Nadda. There aren't really many films around in which are set in Syria, so that's a selling point in itself, but it's just a shame the story is so clichéd.The film features Alexander Siddig (best known for his brief recent turn in GAME OF THRONES) as a father living in the west who discovers that his daughter has gone missing in Syria. He goes over there and soon begins kicking backside, uncovering the usual conspiracy of silence, working his way through various thugs and goons and corrupt officials in a bid to rescue her.The film is shot in a standard way and it's a pity that the action scenes are so routinely unexciting, filmed by a director who has no understanding of what looks good on screen. The film is in a tight spot really as it wants to be dark and gritty and yet has a family friendly rating at the same time, and that can be tough to pull off (Greengrass and Nolan are two of the few directors who know how to achieve the balance). Siddig isn't bad but his character is very dull and Joshua Jackson is badly miscast in support. INESCAPABLE isn't the sort of film you'll remember long after watching.

Inescapable (2012): Dir: Ruba Nadda / Cast: Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei, Joshua Jackson, Oded Fehr, Fadia Nadda: This is the film that Taken failed to be. It regards how we cannot escape our past or sins. Alexander Siddig delivers a strong performance as Syrian Canadian businessman who receives the news that his daughter has gone missing while visiting Damascus. He dreads the return after thirty years especially since he could be arrested for his previous conduct. At any rate he braves the trip and contacts an ex-fiancé, played by Marisa Tomei who is angry after he disappeared without a trace. However, she agrees to help him in his search for his daughter. Joshua Jackson plays a Canadian Embassy official whom Siddig learns was involved with his daughter and he forces some answers. Other shady characters enter whom are searching for photos that they believe Siddig's daughter had in her possession. He also enlists help from a previous friend within the law who is also reluctant to get involved. Acting is powerful and director Ruba Nadda makes good use of locations as well as provide realistic suspense and action, which Taken never delivered. What works best is the fact that the hero has left this place thirty years ago to renew in Toronto only to be forced to confront his prior life. Siddig captures this sense of desperation and determination very well as he is aware of the dangers that linger and close in. It also demonstrates what a parent will do for the good of their children. The result is an excellent film the life worth fighting for and the sins that need buried. Score: 10 / 10

"I'm not the same man you chased away all those years ago. Find my daughter!" Years after he left Damascus under suspicious circumstances, Adib Abdel Kareem (Siddig) returns when he finds out that his daughter has gone missing. When he meets people from his past he is forced not only to confront his earlier life consequences but also find his daughter before its too late. This is a movie that is good, fast moving and worth watching, but also a little generic. There really isn't much to say about this one. Father finds out his daughter is missing, he is forced to seek help from those he has had previous problems with, encounters resistance. I did like the movie and I do think it's worth watching and while it is pretty tense I found that the daughter storyline seemed to have gotten lost in the jumble of what was going on. When you watch that will make sense. Overall, a movie that is good and well worth checking out but it is a tad generic. I give it a B.

After reading some other reviews of this film online, I was expecting to be slightly disappointed...but was pleasantly surprised by it. Having been a fan of Ruba Nadda's other films, (and a general groupie of anything involving Alexander Siddig), I was eager to see her newest film as part of the CIFF.The movie starts rather abruptly, and just dives in to the plot - A man, Adib (who is originally from Syria but has lived in Toronto for the past 25 years) goes to Damascus to search for his adult daughter who has gone missing while traveling there. This sudden, rather stark beginning is very different from Nadda's last major film, (the subtle and slow paced "Cairo Time") but, it works: The story develops naturally in a somewhat frantic way (in keeping with the protagonists understandable anxiety) from this stark beginning, and we learn more and more about Adib's past and just why his daughter is in such danger. Marisa Tomei is also particularly convincing as the lover that Adib left behind suddenly some 2 decades ago, and Siddig is of course, flawless as always.Without revealing too much of the plot, I will say (having traveled through Syria), that director Nadda has done a brilliant job of capturing the somewhat concerning climate of a police state, while also illuminating the rather conflicting general atmosphere of Damascus- haunting, beautiful, blue- tinted layers of history, coupled with this very brutal military presence.This is a real departure for Nadda, shooting a political thriller as opposed to a romantic drama, but I think she succeeds simply for the fact that watching it, I felt like I WAS in Damascus...and she was able to convey this in a film she shot in only 29 days, in South Africa (the Syrian government obviously not having let her film there).While there could have been slightly more character development in some cases, I found the film to be beautifully shot, and it kept its pace suitable to the subject matter.