The Escapist (2008)

It's late, so this will be a quick one... "The Escapist" is probably the best "prison escape" movie I've watched since "Shawshank Redemption", keeping the proportions. Only the cast is directly comparable. The story is, however, far from the complex construction in "Shawshank", but including enough drama to get some distance also from the light area of "Escape Plan", "Escape from Alcatraz", "The Great Escape" or other "escapes" (despite the title).

Frank Perry is an old convict who one day gets a new cell mate, much younger, and with him also a letter announcing that his daughter is not in the best condition. So, he decides he should pay her a visit. Only that he needs to recruit a team for this endeavor + not letting it being found out by who makes the law around the prison. Stuff that becomes more and more difficult as the group that wants outside grows...

We have a very tiny production budget, but a big time casting, a very appropriate score and an ending twist that's not totally credible, but it makes the escape more credible. I could start a long talk about the illusory light at the end of the tunnel, but as I said, it's late and already this entry risks not to be a quick one anymore ;)...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5