From Writer and Director John Erick Dowdle ~ the man who brought us QUARANTINE, DEVIL and AS ABOVE, SO BELOW ~ comes an extremely intense drama that will make you second guess moving your family to any foreign land…LIKE, EVER…as we see that for one family, there may be ~ NO ESCAPE!!!
Having lost his job in the states, and thinking that a move to Asia might be the right move for his family, and his career, Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) packs up his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and his girls Lucy (Sterling Jerins) and Beeze (Claire Geare) to head abroad for a new start.
When Beeze befriends a Mr. Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) on the plane ride over, lucky for the family he “knows people” when they arrive, as it appears Dwyer’s new company hasn’t sent anyone to greet them, or to drive them anywhere either…
Once secure in their hotel, Jack heads out to pick up the morning paper, when his is unexpectedly caught in the middle of a coup between the military and local extremists, bound and determined to rid their country of all of THE FOREIGNERS, who have invaded their soil…
Thrust into “DADDY MODE” to save his little girls and wife from perishing in their new homeland, Jack must rely and his instincts, his wife Annie, and the assistance of their “new friend” Hammond, to try to get them somewhere ~ anywhere~ that might be safe and sound, as the death and destruction surrounds them at every turn…
I give NO ESCAPE the rating of…MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN ~ Wilson and Bell managed to definitely pull off roles NOTHING LIKE THEY HAVE EVER PLAYED BEFORE…and, even though I was thinking it would be a far stretch for Wilson to pull off a “leading man” role, he does manage to pull off LEADING HUSBAND AND FATHER pretty darn well. Bell also plays the perfect mother, always looking out for the best interests of her children, even when taking on assailants that want to remove her entire family from this earth. Jerins and Geare are also very good, playing the scared and frightened, but courageous when they need to be, youngsters in this film too. The suspense & violence throughout is extremely intense ~ and graphic~ so even though there is a family involved, please take heed to the R-rating and not bring the entire family along to view it~ as this film is NO JOY RIDE. All-in-all, Dowdle’s storyline (which was co-written by his brother Drew), and Directing seemed to be flawless – as NO ESCAPE is as rivoting, suspenseful and thrilling as it gets. And, even though I am guessing this film won’t make the type of mark it should at the box office this week ~ if you do head out to a theater near you to see it ~ you will be blown away by it’s cinematography too – as it is absolutely breathtaking and angst-ridden, all at the same time…
Kathy Kaiser
MATINEE CHAT with Kathy Kaiser 