It’s funny how in this (and Shawshank), the criminals are the “heroes” while the prison employees are the bad guys. Campbell Bruce novel someday – it really is a fascinating story. From the little bit of investigation that I did, it seems pretty accurate from what I can tell (with the usual small changes to make for a better movie). While watching this, I couldn’t help but wonder about the true story and how accurately it’s portrayed in the movie. What? Huh – I never knew that! You learn something new every day. Turns out that his story is heavily based on the 1872 short story God Sees the Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy. They’re so similar that I just looked up Stephen King’s novella on Wikipedia to see if he was inspired by the true story & this movie. Alcatraz even has its own Shawshank Brooks in the form of a painter & lover of chrysanthemums named Doc (Roberts Blossom). It’s actually funny just how similar this is to Shawshank! There’s quite a similar set of quirky & likeable characters (even though they’re criminals) and an evil warden (Patrick McGoohan). If you haven’t seen this but you like either The Shawshank Redemption or The Great Escape, I can pretty much guarantee that you’d enjoy this one as well. I think Escape From Alcatraz actually deserves a place in the Top 250 more than a lot of the films that are in it (especially the current films that end up there just because users rate modern movies far too highly). I’m happy to say that I wasn’t at all disappointed! I actually don’t know why it isn’t a little more highly regarded – I think its IMDB rating is a little low at 7.6 as I actually enjoyed it quite a bit more than several of the “classics” that are in the IMDB Top 250. This movie is great! I remember scrolling through Netflix a few months ago & being so sick of the absolute shit I’d watched recently and really wanting to see a proper, good movie so I decided to give Escape From Alcatraz a go. It dramatizes possibly the only successful escape attempt from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. Starring: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward, Roberts Blossom, Larry Hankin, Jack Thibeau, Paul Benjamin, Danny GloverĮscape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American prison film based on true events. It's infectious: "I've been thinking about a bank robbery my whole life.Based on Escape from Alcatraz by J. A bit like the underplaying but still prolific and passionate Forrest Tucker. You will not be revisiting the wisecracking of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or the sophistication of The Sting you will get a fun heist film featuring a star who evidences the reason he has 78 entries in his filmography and originated a seminal cultural institution, The Sundance Institute. Redford shuffles a bit like an old man, but he teases us with the wisdom he holds behind that killer smile and a youthful insouciance that makes him ageless. That spareness of emotion, dialogue, and sustained discourse adds to the mystery of a man who floats above daily intercourse to pursue a passion, albeit robbery. The film likes to keep these moments underwritten to suggest the depth as a richness he hasn't ignored but prefers to keep at bay. Old Man hints at deeper emotional possibilities when it's discovered that his daughter, played by Elizabeth Moss, is unknown to him: Jewel (Sissy Spacek): "Do you have any children?" Despite the clichéd bank robbery motif, based on the real-life career of serial robber Forrest Tucker, his eighty robberies and 16 prison escapes reveal not a mean man but rather a charmer who robs because it makes him smile and who helps others when he doesn't have to. However, this film offers more in its smallness: seasoned actors like Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, and Tom Waits provide momentary joy beyond Redford's sustaining charisma. Watching Robert Redford breeze through The Old Man and the Gun, I am reminded that a minimalist drama like this can serve one purpose only if it wants: See an 82-year-old movie star gracefully perform again, with dignity.
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