Am a fan of prison movies like The Great escape, Shawshank Redemption etc. This one would definitely pass for good but still lacks realistic plot. No real twists or turns in the movie except the ending. It is a decent story but still I feel that the director should have given some flashback on all characters or at least some. The director tried to add few artistic element but I believe he couldn't. It is quite normal for viewers to expect a level high with actors like Brian Cox and Joseph Fiennes. Two good aspects about the movie is the non-linearity which the director brought by bringing the present and the past planning phase. The other one is obviously Coldplay's sound-track.

Rupert Wyatt recently became famous for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", but a few years earlier, he directed this movie about a man desperate to break out of prison. Brian Cox plays an inmate in an English prison who learns that his daughter is ill, and so he enlists some fellow inmates to help him escape."The Escapist" is half flashback. Some scenes focus on the man's life inside the jail and half on the jailbreak. And man, those are some intense scenes. More so, I'd say, than the jail scenes. But all in all, this amounts to a very fine movie. Granted, I wouldn't equate it with "The Shawshank Redemption" or anything, but still a good piece of work. I recommend it.I notice that the movie got filmed in Kilmainham Gaol. My parents recently went to Ireland and toured that jail.

Watch this if... a very good and suspenseful prison break film is your thing. Not action packed by any means, but provides plenty of suspense and is a solid film.Acting/Casting: 8* - Great casting from top to bottom in this one. Cox and company play their roles well and the acting is above average. In particular, Cox gives arguably his best performance to date.Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 7* - Well directed and I must say the final product is quite impressive. The film takes place predominately in prison and you can almost feel the despair with the dull and dark lighting throughout the film. The cinematography and other aspects of the movie are on par. Although nothing new, I am a big fan of the past/present flipping that takes place throughout the movie.Plot/Characters: 7* - This is a well thought out and constructed prison break film. Although Cox plays a criminal, it has you rooting for him to get out to aid and resolve issues with his daughter. The characters are a bit stereotypical and this prison is far from running a tight ship, but it is still entertaining.Entertainment Value: 7* - A solid film that offers suspense and is well worth a watch. If you are in the mood for a good prison break film that keeps you guessing, then this is right up your alley. I will likely watch again at some point in the future.My Score: 8+7+7+7 = 29/4 = 7.25Email your thoughts to [email protected]

Rupert Wyatt is considered a hot directional prospect with his first feature film The Escapist being praised at Sundance and in the British and Irish award circuits. With a cast of top British talent Wyatt was able to impress and he has already landed himself the directional duties to a prequel for Planet of the Apes.Set in a unnamed prison near London Frank Perry (Brian Cox) is a lifer who keeps his head down and nose clear, avoiding trouble and getting into rifts. He accepts that he is not going to be released but when he receives a letter that his daughter is a drug addict and seriously ill he sets to break out for her. He recruits a team of prisons, Brodie (Liam Cunningham), his close friends who knows the local lay out, Leeny (Joseph Fiennes), a theft and lockpick, Viv Batista (Seu Jorge), the prison chemist and drug dealer and Lacey (Dominic Cooper), Frank's new cell mate. The Escapist tells two narratives, the lead up to the escape, with the team planning it and avoiding the prisoners and guards getting wind of it and the escape itself.Wyatt shows that he is a competent director, directing a fast paced film and editor Joe Walker was able to blend the two stories together. The scenes in the prison were grounded in gritty realism, in an almost period like setting, like the 70s. Wyatt shows that British prisons then to be violence, but people are not split on gang or racial lines nor like American prisons where rape is common. Men gambled library cards because it was the only thing they have. Though the bare knuckle boxing was a little less believable. The escape sequence was a bit more surreal and when you first see the film that Wyatt should have followed a traditional storyline, but it fits well together at the end. Benjamin Wallfisch also writes good music to the film and it was used to effect throughout. It is also so refreshing to see a serious British crime film seeing so many are willing take a comic or playful approach, like Guy Ritchie films and The Bank Job.There is an excellent cast and Cox really commands the film. I like Cox as an actor and it is refreshing to see him in something smaller. He is believable and is deliberately understated throughout. The supporting is strong, with Cunningham and Cooper being particularly good, but Fiennes and Damien Lewis obviously being talented. However, it was strange that a Brazilian actor was cast as Viv Batista and it would have been more believable and natural if the character was British (though Jorge was still decent).The Escapist is not Scum, one of the most brutal films ever or the Shawshank Redemption, but it is still enjoyable film in it's own right. The Escapist is the best British crime film since Layer Cake.