Stanko's Stance

“In their new overseas house, an American family soon finds themselves caught in the middle of a coup, and they frantically look for a safe escape from an environment where foreigners are being immediately executed.”

Director: John Erick Dowdle
Writers: John Erick Dowdle, Drew Dowdle
Starring: Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan, Owen Wilson, Sterling Jerins
Release Date: August 26, 2015
IMDB

This one came out of nowhere. No Escape (2015) was meant to be a quick flick-on viewing because I needed some background noise while I was writing some nonsense. Credit to the movie and its makers because No Escape grabs your attention with how it breaks expectations and becomes surprisingly brutal with little warning. You think you are in for an action movie, but No Escape takes a dive into the horror well and swims in those waters till the final credits roll.

Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) works for an American based water company and his job has forced himself, his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and two young daughters to move to an undisclosed Asian country. Scared in a new land, the quartet meet charismatic, perhaps-too-talkative traveler Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) at the airport.  A fellow English speaker brings comfort to the newcomers and in particular Jack, but the exhale of normalcy is short lived.

One morning Jack goes to try and find a newspaper. While trying to educate himself on the world, a cataclysmic event that is sure to generate its own news reports begins to unfold in the streets. Rebels at the helm of a coup d’état take to the streets with ire, much of it associated with the water company that commercially inserted itself into the land.

Jack and Lucy find themselves in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. Various scenes put the family in direct peril, including a tone-setting helicopter massacre atop the bougie hotel where the Dwyer family is staying. The rebels, all of whom are unnamed, make haste and lay waste once they make the connection that Jack was brought to their country by the industrial enemy. It’s a race against time as the Dwyer family dance in the shadows, escape close calls and attempt to survive a nightmarish experience.

The first unique part of No Escape is that you could pass it off as being based on a true story. The setup is grounded in politics and social unrest, and it’s raised another level with the realistic style of filmmaking by writer and director John Erick Dowdle. It’s a fair question to ask how this movie got greenlight because those interested in watching this style are rare. A B-movie experience with prestige movie ingredients. A weird combination, but it works. 

Erick Dowle has been working on the TV circuit since No Escape came about, but before he began tackling Waco and Waco: The Aftermath, the Minnesota native was making a name for himself with some low budget but well seen horror stories. The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) is a weird ass movie, and that independent venture led to Quarantine (2008), Devil (2010) and As Above, So Below (2014). Quarantine is an American remake of Rec (2007) and was the talk of (my) high school for a time after its release. Come the turn of the decade, I personally saw Devil with a bunch of college kids on a random Friday night. Four years later, As Above, So Below became a hidden gem; those who know the movie have it as a deep cut recommendation for horror fans.

With an extensive horror background, it makes a lot of sense why the scariest moments in No Escape feel as if they are snippets from a Saturday night spookfest. There is a moment when Annie is taken captive by the rebels and is being harassed and eventual rape is heavily implied. In a normal action movie, you’d never worry about the horror actually happening, but No Escape doesn’t allow your subconscious that bit of respite. You hold your breath hoping for a rescue.

Now, let’s take a deep breath. Is No Escape an all-time classic? No. There are some blind spots that need to be addressed, the first of which is the lead actor.

Owen Wilson as Jack Dwyer forces the audience to stretch its imagination a bit. The concept of the story is that it’s an everyday family trying to escape this hellscape and Jack is the everyday dad taking the extraordinary steps necessary to survive. But when I look at Owen Wilson…I see Owen Wilson. I see the blond hair and I hear his voice. No Escape is definitely a departure from his normal roles, and it feels like he stepped out into the rain without an umbrella. 

If I could place my casting hat on for a minute, I am thinking of an actor who is not overly physical or domineering with his features. They have to have the ability to blend into a cast but stand out when asked to in short snippets. Perhaps someone like Jamie Dornan or Boyd Holbrook?

Annie is played by Lake Bell who is a pristine example of “who is this again?” She has a recognizable face and has appeared as a third wheel type of character in numerous different films. Bell has also leant her voice to numerous animated projects.

The Dwyer adults have the elegant combination of extreme luck and desperate determination. Would they survive this experience in a normal world? Almost, definitely not. But what if an actor who played James Bond shows up and announces himself as a secret British government agent and helps you stay live? Would that work for you?

Pierce Brosnan is having an absolute blast in this movie. His character is a smiling son of a bitch, and Brosnan is sucking up the screen whenever he has the opportunity. While I poked up at the Wilson casting, one must tip the cap when it comes to putting Brosnan in this role as the gun savvy convenient government agent. He has the comfortable during the action sequences and he also has the presence to provide necessary exposition without seeming super heavy handed. 

No Escape exceeds expectations and perhaps I am talking more eloquently about it because I was so shocked by how much I enjoyed it. The movie turned out to be an elevated B-Movie that demands you watch it intently. Is it going to win any awards or bring any fans over from a different genre demographic? Absolutely not. But it’s a movie that was made with a lot of confidence and probably wouldn’t be made today.

Oh, and one last thing. This No Escape is very different from Ray Liotta’s 1994 No Escape. One is family friendly, and one is not.

STANKO RATING: C+