''The Escapist'' is a 2008 drama thriller starring Brian Cox,

Joseph Fiennes Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (), known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Journalist Zoe Williams observed that "he seemed to be the go-to actor for English cultural history". Fiennes is particul ...

Liam Cunningham Liam Cunningham (born 2 June 1961) is an Irish actor. He is known for playing Davos Seaworth in the HBO epic-fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''. Cunningham has been nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award, the British Independe ...

Seu Jorge Jorge Mário da Silva, more commonly known by his stage name Seu Jorge (Seu, an abbreviation of "Senhor"; born June 8, 1970; ), is a Brazilian musical artist, songwriter, and actor. He is considered by many a renewer of Brazilian pop samba. Seu ...

Dominic Cooper Dominic Edward Cooper (born 2 June 1978) is an English actor known for his portrayal of comic book characters Jesse Custer on the AMC show ''Preacher'' (2016–2019) and young Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with appearances ...

Steven Mackintosh Steven Mackintosh (born 30 April 1967) is an English actor and narrator. He is perhaps best known for his role as Andreas Tanis in the action horror films '' Underworld: Evolution'' (2006) and '' Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'' (2009). Mack ...

, Stephen Farrelly and

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...

. It is directed and co-written by

Rupert Wyatt Rupert Wyatt (born 26 October 1972) is an English screenwriter, director and producer. He made his directorial debut with the 2008 film '' The Escapist'', which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His second film was the 2011 blockbuster '' ...

, and premiered at the 2008

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

to considerable acclaim. An Irish-UK co-production, the film was produced by Alan Moloney of Parallel Films and

Adrian Sturges Adrian Sturges (born 17 October 1976) is a British-born film producer. Early life Sturges was born in London, England and grew up in Rochester, Kent Education Sturges was educated at The King's School, Rochester, in Kent, in South East Englan ...

of Picture Farm.

Plot

The film runs two narratives simultaneously, preparation of the escape and the escape itself. Frank Perry ( Brian Cox) is a lifer and has long accepted that he will never see the outside again. When Perry receives his first letter in fourteen years that his cherished daughter is a drug addict and near death following an overdose, he starts to think about escaping. He plans an escape with help from Lenny Drake (

), Brodie (

) and Viv Batista (

). But when Perry's new cellmate James Lacey (

) gets noticed by Tony (the brother of the powerful inmate Rizza), things get more complicated and lead to Tony's death. When Perry receives the bad news that his daughter has died his plans change. Perry nears freedom, as he climbs towards a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

exit. The story snaps back to within the prison where Perry is offering himself to be killed by Rizza for failing to bring Lacey to him for punishment. The escape scenes were Perry's hallucinations as he was dying, and he sacrificed himself to cause distraction, allowing the other prisoners to escape.

Cast and characters

* Brian Cox as Frank Perry. A solid and phlegmatic character, he holds his own, but neither attracts nor creates any trouble. He is a lifer and has long accepted that he will never see the outside again. *

as Rizza. A ruthless convict who rules over the other inmates. *

as Lenny Drake. A former thief and boxer. *

as Viv Batista. The prison chemist. *

as Brodie. Perry's right-hand man and closest friend. * Stephen Farrelly (credited as Sheamus O'Shaunessy) as Two Ton. The prison's reigning bare-knuckle boxing champion. *

as Lacey. A newly arrived prisoner and Frank's cellmate. *

as Tony. Brother of Rizza, drug addled and the source of much conflict.

Production

Writing

The role of Frank Perry was written specifically for Brian Cox. In an interview with Trevor Groth, Wyatt said "The structure of the film's plot was inspired by a well known short story written in the 19th century by

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...

called ''

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1890) is a short story by the American writer and Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce. Described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature","An Occurrence at Owl Creek ...

''."

Locations

Much of ''The Escapist'' was shot in Dublin's

Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol ( ga, Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the l ...

. A scene near the end is shot in the bascule chamber beneath

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

in London; it is exactly the same location where Wyatt's brother-in-law

Boris Starling Boris Starling (born 1969)Sohn, Amy (1999) "GETTING A HANDLE ON HOT 'MESSIAH' SCRIBE", ''New York Post'', 7 September 1999, p. 22, ("at 30 he's already been on endless European best-seller lists") is a British novelist, screenwriter and newspaper ...

set the climax of his 2006 novel ''Visibility''. The Kingsway tramway subway also features in the film.

Extras

The film is noted for featuring not only Irish WWE wrestler Sheamus (billed under his real name, Stephen Farrelly) in a main role but also future UFC star

Conor McGregor Conor Anthony McGregor ( ga, Conchúr Antóin Mac Gréagóir; born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight double-champion. He is the first ...

as an extra playing a prisoner.

Music

The film features

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's version of "

The Partisan "The Partisan" is an anti-fascist anthem about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was composed in 1943 by Russian-born Anna Marly (1917–2006), with lyrics by French Resistance leader Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (1900–1969) ...

" and British band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

who wrote an eponymous song for the film which features on the end credits and on their bestselling album ''

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'', often referred to as simply ''Viva la Vida'', is the fourth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 12 June 2008 on the Parlophone label. "Viva la vida" is a Spanish phrase that tr ...

'' as a hidden track.

Reception

Critical reception

The film received a rating of 64% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 45 reviews. The site's consensus: "A tense, smart prison break movie, ''The Escapist'' is a sharp debut from director Rupert Wyatt".

Box office

The North American box office total for the film was $13,439 with an additional $374,735 internationally for a worldwide total of $388,174.

Awards

Wins

BAFTA Scotland BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...

Award for Best Film Performance 2008 ( Brian Cox) *

British Independent Film Awards 2008 The 11th British Independent Film Awards, held on 30 November 2008 at the Old Billingsgate Market in London, honoured the best British independent films of 2008. Awards The winner is bolded at the top of each section. Best British Independent Fil ...

Best Production Achievement (

and

Alan Moloney Alan Moloney is an Irish film and television producer. In 2001, alongside Michael Colgan, Alan produced ''Beckett on Film'', a project aimed at making film versions of all nineteen of Samuel Beckett's stage plays. Ten of the films were screene ...

)

Nominations

The Doulgas Hicox Award (Best Debut Director) (

) *

Irish Film and Television Awards Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

2008 Best Film (

and

) *

World Soundtrack Award for Discovery of the Year Discovery of the Year is an award handed out yearly at the World Soundtrack Awards to commemorate an excellent piece of musical work in the field of TV and movie soundtracks that seemed to come out of nowhere, hence the title of the award. It has be ...

2008 (

Benjamin Wallfisch Benjamin Mark Lasker Wallfisch (born 7 August 1979) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and producer of film scores. Since the mid-2000s, he has worked on over 75 feature films, including composing original scores for ''Blade Ru ...

) *

Evening Standard British Film Awards The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by London's ''Evening Standard'' newspaper. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony ...

2008 Most Promising Newcomer (

) *

2008 Technical Achievement ( Joe Walker) * London Critics' Circle Film Awards 2008 Filmmaking Breakthrough (

)

Remake

In 2015, it was announced that

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on '' Th ...

will star in a remake with Wyatt as a producer.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Escapist, The 2008 films 2008 crime drama films 2000s English-language films British prison drama films Irish crime drama films Films set in London Films directed by Rupert Wyatt Films scored by Benjamin Wallfisch 2008 directorial debut films English-language Irish films 2000s prison drama films 2000s British films