Over complicated and taking itself way too seriously Inescapable tries to craft an intelligent and complex thriller but despite a few twists and turns and a leading man that does well enough it just failed to really grab my attention. It certainly wasn't that the film dragged, in fact the hour and a half flew by and there is plenty of action and intrigue and yet for some unknown reason I just didn't care about any of it. I wish I could explain it better but there isn't any one reason why it doesn't work. It is just missing something. At times I felt like I was losing track of what was going on and what this mysterious background was of this father desperately looking for his daughter. It felt like it was trying to be a more political version of Liam Neeson's Taken. It very loosely touches on the political turmoil of Damascus but then at the same time I'm not sure they used it as much as they could have. The cinematography felt bland and empty and some of the supporting characters felt underdeveloped. I do feel like there was a lot of potential here because the script is decent and as I said there is plenty of action but it all comes across as being without any real merit and that's unfortunate.
Alexander Siddig is excellent in his role. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his performance as the protective father with an old secret that he has been running from. He is believable and shows a lot of intensity in his role. Joshua Jackson is much better of an actor than you would think from his performance in this. I feel like he sincerely misses his mark and almost seems bored in this performance. There is no chemistry between him and Siddig and he absolutely does not give this his all. Marisa Tomei is borderline pointless in this film. Her bad accent and deer in the headlights performance is annoying and barely existent. A great character actor, Oded Fehr is very good in his role but its such an unfortunately small part. I feel like he should have had a far more vital part in the whole story but sadly he does not though he has one very good scene towards the end when he is getting the truth out of Siddig.
To call the story convoluted is an understatement. There is a lot of intrigue and back story and to be honest I am not sure I even understand a single thing that happened. And yet at the same time, I never got even remotely invested enough to really try and understand it. I didn't feel like everyone was putting their entire heart into the film and I think that's where it falls apart. Ruba Nadda is apparently a very well respected writer and director but I simply felt like this was poorly shot and put together. Even the climatic reunion of father and daughter felt like it was lacking any depth. I'm not sure what drew me to try this and I'm not sorry I did because I have seen worse but this just felt so very empty. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for any sort of powerful story because it misses the mark in a big way. 5/10
Alexander Siddig is excellent in his role. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his performance as the protective father with an old secret that he has been running from. He is believable and shows a lot of intensity in his role. Joshua Jackson is much better of an actor than you would think from his performance in this. I feel like he sincerely misses his mark and almost seems bored in this performance. There is no chemistry between him and Siddig and he absolutely does not give this his all. Marisa Tomei is borderline pointless in this film. Her bad accent and deer in the headlights performance is annoying and barely existent. A great character actor, Oded Fehr is very good in his role but its such an unfortunately small part. I feel like he should have had a far more vital part in the whole story but sadly he does not though he has one very good scene towards the end when he is getting the truth out of Siddig.
To call the story convoluted is an understatement. There is a lot of intrigue and back story and to be honest I am not sure I even understand a single thing that happened. And yet at the same time, I never got even remotely invested enough to really try and understand it. I didn't feel like everyone was putting their entire heart into the film and I think that's where it falls apart. Ruba Nadda is apparently a very well respected writer and director but I simply felt like this was poorly shot and put together. Even the climatic reunion of father and daughter felt like it was lacking any depth. I'm not sure what drew me to try this and I'm not sorry I did because I have seen worse but this just felt so very empty. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for any sort of powerful story because it misses the mark in a big way. 5/10