See it at the Movies

NO ESCAPE

with Joyce & Don Fowler
Posted 9/3/15

* * * ½

(Tense, violent, frightening chase movie)

If you are looking for adventure, you’ll find plenty of it in this tense, violent, frightening chase movie about a family caught in the …

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See it at the Movies

NO ESCAPE

Posted

* * * ½

(Tense, violent, frightening chase movie)

If you are looking for adventure, you’ll find plenty of it in this tense, violent, frightening chase movie about a family caught in the middle of a revolution in an unnamed Southeast Asian country.

Owen Wilson plays Jack Dwyer, his usual easy-going, What-Me-Worry character who has just landed a job in a foreign country, taking his wife (Lake Bell) and two young daughters along with him. They check into a rundown hotel and he goes for a walk to buy a newspaper, only to get caught in the middle of a bloody coup. The armed rebels are roaming the streets, killing everyone in sight, especially Americans. Jack runs back to the hotel, with the rebels at his heels, to gather his family.

What follows is an hour and a half of pure terror, with the family narrowly escaping machine gun fire, while everyone else is mowed down. The most frightening scene involves Jack throwing his two girls into the arms of his wife, who has jumped to a nearby roof.

Just when it looks like it is all over and there is no escape, an Englishman who knows his way around (Pierce Brosnan) arrives just in time to help them dodge more bullets and reach a boat that could take them to the border.

We’ve seen this type of movie before, but never with the intensity of an entire family narrowly escaping death. While the plot approaches the border of believability, the frantic acting and direction, including the two young girls, will grab you and make you fear for their safety. Just be warned that this is a very violent movie, with the writers and director caring little about hundreds of people gunned down and tortured, as long as the American family has a chance of survival.

Rated a big R for violence and some profanity.

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