Inescapable

The Basic Plot of a Taken Daughter may be a Reason to Knee-Jerk and Cry Foul or Worse Stay Away from this Low-Key Thriller set in Syria, of all Places, just Before the Uprising. This is not that Clear on Details, and it would be Better if it was, like the Background of the Protagonist, and His Much Talked About Past. But it is a Movie that Looks Really Good with Sharp, Colorful Images, and the Dialog and Performers have and Urgent Gravitas. The Movie is Somewhat Slowly Paced for this Type of Current Trend Action, but it has a Difference about its Similarities that makes it Intriguing. Overall it is Well Produced and Thoughtful but not Rich Enough or Viscerally Intense to Rise Above its Independent Stature. Worth a Watch but do not Expect any Bar Raising in the Genre, just a Competent, Entertaining Little Movie with Big Intentions.

Inescapable (2012): Dir: Ruba Nadda / Cast: Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei, Joshua Jackson, Oded Fehr, Fadia Nadda: This is the film that Taken failed to be. It regards how we cannot escape our past or sins. Alexander Siddig delivers a strong performance as Syrian Canadian businessman who receives the news that his daughter has gone missing while visiting Damascus. He dreads the return after thirty years especially since he could be arrested for his previous conduct. At any rate he braves the trip and contacts an ex-fiancé, played by Marisa Tomei who is angry after he disappeared without a trace. However, she agrees to help him in his search for his daughter. Joshua Jackson plays a Canadian Embassy official whom Siddig learns was involved with his daughter and he forces some answers. Other shady characters enter whom are searching for photos that they believe Siddig's daughter had in her possession. He also enlists help from a previous friend within the law who is also reluctant to get involved. Acting is powerful and director Ruba Nadda makes good use of locations as well as provide realistic suspense and action, which Taken never delivered. What works best is the fact that the hero has left this place thirty years ago to renew in Toronto only to be forced to confront his prior life. Siddig captures this sense of desperation and determination very well as he is aware of the dangers that linger and close in. It also demonstrates what a parent will do for the good of their children. The result is an excellent film the life worth fighting for and the sins that need buried. Score: 10 / 10

In all honesty movies like Inescapable have been made before and way better. Inescapable is okay to watch once and then forget about it. It won't remembered as a great movie. The story itself isn't bad though, even if it has been done before. It's just some action scenes that brings the movie down. Not that there are a lot of it, but the ones where there are fighting scenes are clearly done by amateurs. None of them look real and that's the minimum you could ask from an action thriller. Alexander Siddig isn't a bad actor but fighting scenes are clearly not his thing. The cast is okay without having Oscar winning performances. All in all it's an okay movie, there are for sure worse movies than this one, but it's just not great either.

Adib Abdel Kareem (Alexander Siddig) lives a comfortable life in Toronto under an alternate identity. He has two daughters but has told them nothing about his past in Syria. He was a military intelligence officer but left under mysterious circumstances 20 years ago. His oldest daughter Muna has disappeared after going to Damascus behind his back. He sneaks back into the country with the help of ex-fiancée Fatima (Marisa Tomei). He talks to Canadian Embassy officer Paul Ridge (Joshua Jackson) and former fellow workmate Sayid (Oded Fehr) as he navigates the dangerous police state. This movie seems to be caught between a realistic movie and a Bourne-like thriller. It fails as either and it struggles to be better. It's great to have Siddig as the lead. The problem is that I can't believe his character wouldn't be snatched up by any one of the random secret police agents. His supposed crime is too big to ignore. The daughter is too naive. It would have been more logical if she's researching in Turkey and gets kidnapped into Syria. Also having Tomei as an Arab does raise an eyebrow. A lot of little things limit the believability. It doesn't work as an action thriller either. It is terribly flat and has low intensity despite the exotic setting. The few action sequences seem weak and out of place. I would like a realistic take on the 2012 police-state Syria. I can't buy it here.

I'm somewhat baffled by the ratings here. This is clearly not an extreme film, yet there are so many 10s. And 1s. It is a good enough film. It's a sort of detective action movie, involving a Canadian returning to his native Syria to rescue his daughter who is held captive because of something in his past. It kept my attention the whole time (even though I really should have been at home asleep). Some changes I would have made if I had no constraints (a) replace the TV actors with unknowns, and (b) shoot in the mid-east. It's worth delaying the film to make it the best it can be. In summary, it's a competent telling of the "good but flawed Western hero goes to bad non-Western country to rescue lost family member" story. If you want a Canada-Syria version of that story, then this may be that film. I'll have to leave it for others to comment on how accurately Syria is portrayed, as I have no idea.

Adib's (Alexander Siddig) daughter goes missing in Damascus, Syria and he must go and find her; but Adib has a secret that has kept him from Syria for 20-years. Actually, 2-secrets. This whole movie hinges on the reason his daughter went to Damascus in the first place when she was supposed to be on her way home to Toronto, Canada. This is very slow going, but consider that if Adib goes back to a country that he escaped from and if caught now he would be arrested. He knows the customs of the country and still knows some people who are in high places, sort of. Language is no problem as he knows Arabic. Ah, but he does go back and knows he must approach everything slowly as there are many secret police units all over the place in this police state. Adib needs help from someone who can do the things he needs done to find his daughter. The help comes from Fatima (Marisa Tomei) who Adib was supposed to marry back in the day, but he escaped and never made contact with her again. And, to be sure, Fatima tells him all about it in a rough and tumble way; and she is still in love with him. Okay, so now you know one secret. So he goes to the Canadian Embassy (Adib is a Canadian citizen) for any help they can provide. He goes to see his old friend in Syrian Military Intelligence, and tries to run down a old Russian spy he knew back in the day to get his help. Adib knows he is being watched by factions of the Secret Police and is acutely aware that he could be arrested at any moment as now people are beginning to see him and do some research about him. But, no tension is felt. This is sometimes suspenseful, but the tension is not there. The acting is fine all around, but also halting as one would expect in a place like this where one must choose one's words carefully. But, still no tension. One thing that bothered me was that he wanders all over Damascus in a new Western suit, which stuck out like a sore thumb; and later he walks around openly in a newly pressed ultra white dress shirt. He should have worn things to blend in more, but the director didn't see it that way. She was never a spy. HA ! You will enjoy this if you take Adib's character to be your own. Sometimes you may ask yourself if you would have done anything different aside from the suit and the white shirt, of course. He knows people and needs to ask favors and he has to be careful about it. And, yes, he does get beaten up at times, but still no tension. If there was a way to get tension in here this would be a very good movie. It needed tension. (5/10) Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, not much.

"I'm not the same man you chased away all those years ago. Find my daughter!" Years after he left Damascus under suspicious circumstances, Adib Abdel Kareem (Siddig) returns when he finds out that his daughter has gone missing. When he meets people from his past he is forced not only to confront his earlier life consequences but also find his daughter before its too late. This is a movie that is good, fast moving and worth watching, but also a little generic. There really isn't much to say about this one. Father finds out his daughter is missing, he is forced to seek help from those he has had previous problems with, encounters resistance. I did like the movie and I do think it's worth watching and while it is pretty tense I found that the daughter storyline seemed to have gotten lost in the jumble of what was going on. When you watch that will make sense. Overall, a movie that is good and well worth checking out but it is a tad generic. I give it a B.

The Basic Plot of a Taken Daughter may be a Reason to Knee-Jerk and Cry Foul or Worse Stay Away from this Low-Key Thriller set in Syria, of all Places, just Before the Uprising. This is not that Clear on Details, and it would be Better if it was, like the Background of the Protagonist, and His Much Talked About Past. But it is a Movie that Looks Really Good with Sharp, Colorful Images, and the Dialog and Performers have and Urgent Gravitas. The Movie is Somewhat Slowly Paced for this Type of Current Trend Action, but it has a Difference about its Similarities that makes it Intriguing. Overall it is Well Produced and Thoughtful but not Rich Enough or Viscerally Intense to Rise Above its Independent Stature. Worth a Watch but do not Expect any Bar Raising in the Genre, just a Competent, Entertaining Little Movie with Big Intentions.

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

What can I say..... Taken 2 was a weak follow on from the original which was quite a fresh approach to a mild action movie, this is neither. This makes Taken 2 seem fast paced and full of kick ass. If you enjoy slow moving stories with the actors seemingly pausing to buy time (or remember their lines) this is for you. I should have turned off after the titles. I did eventually switch off after an hour. The characters are boring, slow paced, uninterested in their role and I can only imagine the director saw what a train crash this was going to be and left halfway through filming! The main actor excelled in Deep space 9 and was even watchable in Primeval but in this movie he just seems bored and certainly not overly concerned about his missing daughters welfare. Snore,,, watch at your peril! Sci fi channel movies seem glossy and well written/acted compared to this mess. 1/10 cos it's the lowest I can give. You may see higher ratings from Canadians who have watched this film, they're being patriotic, trust me.