Charles Bronson was pretty old when he became a star. He'd done small supporting roles for years in westerns and war movies, but quite late in his career he was suddenly propelled into the super-star category following The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and The Dirty Dozen. The biggest irony is that once Bronson became a star, his actual acting became much lazier and more wooden. He spent the "superstar years" from the late 1960s until the late 1980s giving monosyllabic performances in largely simple-minded films. His output during these years was prolific to say the least, but very few of the films rose above mediocrity. Breakout is just one more Bronson vehicle from that era better than some, worse than others, a totally unremarkable and easy-to-watch time filler.
Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall) is arrested for a murder he had nothing to do with and thrown into a Mexican jail. His wife Ann (Jill Ireland) is devastated and wants desperately to help him be free, but she quickly realises this is only going to happen if Jay can break or be broken out of the prison. She believes that she can count on the financial support of Jay's grandfather Harris Wagner (John Huston) in mounting a rescue operation, little suspecting that it is actually Harris himself who - for various personal and greedy reasons - arranged for his grandson to be busted on the phony murder charge. Eventually Ann pleads with a bush pilot called Nick Colton (Charles Bronson) to help spring Jay from jail. Offering quarter of a million bucks as incentive, Ann persuades Nick and his buddy Hawk Hawkins (Randy Quaid) to take on the job of pulling off this audacious escape. But Ann's big mistake is telling Grandpa Harris all the intimate details of the plan, therefore making the whole rescue operation doomed to fail before it begins. Except that Nick and Hawk don't like losing, and won't let a few mishaps along the way stop them from carrying out their courageous plan ..
The reasons for watching Breakout are that it moves quickly, cramming incident and action into its relatively brief 96 minute duration. Huston as the villain and Duvall as the prisoner are clearly a cut above the material and give enjoyable performances, even though they are slumming. Jerry Goldsmith adds yet another catchy score to his list of catchy '70s film music. The reasons for not watching Breakout are that if you've seen many Bronson from the era, there's not a whole lot to make this one discernible from the rest. The film is put together with little obvious style of its own in a strictly by-the-numbers manner. Lastly, the periodic attempts to add a humorous edge seem generally ineffective. If you're channel hopping one day and you happen to come across Breakout, give it a go. It won't disappoint you in any great way, but neither will it be a film that has you racing down to the nearest DVD store to add it to your collection.
Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall) is arrested for a murder he had nothing to do with and thrown into a Mexican jail. His wife Ann (Jill Ireland) is devastated and wants desperately to help him be free, but she quickly realises this is only going to happen if Jay can break or be broken out of the prison. She believes that she can count on the financial support of Jay's grandfather Harris Wagner (John Huston) in mounting a rescue operation, little suspecting that it is actually Harris himself who - for various personal and greedy reasons - arranged for his grandson to be busted on the phony murder charge. Eventually Ann pleads with a bush pilot called Nick Colton (Charles Bronson) to help spring Jay from jail. Offering quarter of a million bucks as incentive, Ann persuades Nick and his buddy Hawk Hawkins (Randy Quaid) to take on the job of pulling off this audacious escape. But Ann's big mistake is telling Grandpa Harris all the intimate details of the plan, therefore making the whole rescue operation doomed to fail before it begins. Except that Nick and Hawk don't like losing, and won't let a few mishaps along the way stop them from carrying out their courageous plan ..
The reasons for watching Breakout are that it moves quickly, cramming incident and action into its relatively brief 96 minute duration. Huston as the villain and Duvall as the prisoner are clearly a cut above the material and give enjoyable performances, even though they are slumming. Jerry Goldsmith adds yet another catchy score to his list of catchy '70s film music. The reasons for not watching Breakout are that if you've seen many Bronson from the era, there's not a whole lot to make this one discernible from the rest. The film is put together with little obvious style of its own in a strictly by-the-numbers manner. Lastly, the periodic attempts to add a humorous edge seem generally ineffective. If you're channel hopping one day and you happen to come across Breakout, give it a go. It won't disappoint you in any great way, but neither will it be a film that has you racing down to the nearest DVD store to add it to your collection.