The Escapist

A career criminal seeks redemption for himself, his family, and his friends by busting out of a penitentiary in this intelligent thriller. Frank (Brian Cox) is a criminal who was forced to leave his wife and six-year-old daughter behind when he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Frank ...more

Most prison films create sympathy for the inmates by emphasizing their innocence, or their strides toward genuine repentance. Rupert Wyatt's The Escapist departs from that trend refreshingly. There are no Andy Dufresnes here, no prisoners correcting an injustice by perpetrating an escape. In fact, there's not a single symbol of hypocrisy or cruelty among the prison figureheads for them to fight against. Rather, Wyatt lets the prisoners establish relative levels of morality based only on the ways ...more