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Movie review: Innocents abroad and in trouble in 'No Escape' Comment By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Aug. 26, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Aug. 26, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News This one comes so close to the promise offered by its title. “No Escape” is a taut action film that puts a likeable family – dad, mom, two young daughters – in a hostile environment and a life-threatening situation, then suggests that this is their fate, that there’s no way to get out of it. It ultimately satisfies as a movie experience but suffers from a few pitfalls along the way, from problems that easily could have and should have been spotted and corrected. A confusing and very violent first few minutes that are never satisfactorily explained lead to a flashback of 17 hours earlier, as Jack and Annie Dwyer (Owen Wilson and Lake Bell) and their daughters Lucy and Beeze (Sterling Jerins and Claire Geare) are winging their way from Texas to their new home in “Asia.” It’s explained that Jack is an engineer who’s landed a new job there, but neither the city nor the country they’re headed to is revealed, beyond the fact that it borders Vietnam. Still on the plane, they happen upon and briefly chat with apparently the only other English-speaking fellow around, the slightly drunk and very scarred-up Hammond (Pierce Brosnan), who seems to know his way around that unnamed city. Once settled, in a hotel that has no TV or Internet reception, the Dwyers appear to be a happy family, though the young girls are a little nervous, and Annie has a private, late-night sob fest over being in this strange new world, and Jack tries his best to apologize by admitting that his previously unlucky career choices have made this one the “best option.” A quiet sense of foreboding creeps into the film’s atmosphere, but it’s not until Jack takes a solo walk around the city, being stared at by the locals because he sticks out like a sore thumb of an American, that everything goes wrong. Very wrong. Jack is suddenly stuck right in the middle of a bunch of cops with guns going up against a bunch of masked rebels with clubs, then sees the rebels grab and execute a man in the street who, before succumbing, screams out, “I’m an American!” It’s the beginning of the absolute panic that permeates the rest of the film, ranging from the blood-stained streets to the hotel room where Jack rejoins his frightened family, doors are being broken down, residents are being slaughtered, and where a now sober and gun-toting Hammond urges them to “get to the roof!” Not a good idea. Neither are the later suggestions to “get to the next building!” or “get to the American Embassy!” Amidst the distant sounds of sirens and the distant and very close up sounds of gunfire, some explanation makes its way into the script. The locals are angry that Americans have taken over the country’s water company, putting many people out of work. You know the new job Jack has traveled all that way to take? Yep, it’s with the water company. And the rebels know his face. “No Escape” turns into a feature-length stretch of unrelenting tension, filled with brutal violence (but very little on-camera gore). It’s one long chase, with the determined hunters going after their hapless prey. The family, sticking together, runs, and the rebels doggedly pursue. There are brief respites from the violence, as when Hammond reappears and explains the politics of the situation to Jack. That’s not a problem, since it gives the audience a chance to take a breath. But the frenetic pacing of the film is marred when, on a few occasions, the director throws in a slow motion sequence or fills a scene with too much softly spoken but desperate dialogue. There’s also the problem of a couple too many instances where the family suddenly finds its way of impossible circumstances. However, giving credit where credit is due, and even though one of those impossible situations is right near the end, the film has a pretty much perfect title. NO ESCAPE Written by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle; directed by John Erick Dowdle With Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan Rated R Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now. By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Aug. 26, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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