Escape from Alcatraz

Based on true events, Escape from Alcatraz follows Clint Eastwood’s Frank Morris as he concocts a scheme to flee the title penitentiary alongside three other inmates (Larry Hankin’s Charley Butts, Fred Ward’s John Anglin, and Jack Thibeau’s Clarence Anglin). Filmmaker Don Siegel, armed with Richard Tuggle’s screenplay, delivers a methodically-paced yet mostly engaging drama that benefits from its inherently compelling subject matter and raft of top-notch performances, with, in terms of the latter, Eastwood’s predictably commanding efforts matched by an eclectic group of such first-class periphery players as Patrick McGoohan and Roberts Blossom. (The latter, cast as an elderly prisoner, turns in heartbreaking work that unquestionably remains a highlight within the proceedings.) And although Siegel has suffused the picture with a handful of thoroughly spellbinding sequences, including an impressively tense interlude involving Blossom’s aforementioned character, Escape from Alcatraz‘s almost procedural-like approach to the protagonists’ preparations admittedly paves the way for a midsection that’s not quite as taut as one might’ve hoped – although, having said that, the escape itself boasts a spellbinding quality that more than ensures the whole thing concludes on a fairly engrossing note. The final result is a slightly overlong, predominantly rewarding endeavor that’s enhanced on an ongoing basis by Eastwood’s stirring turn, and it’s interesting, ultimately, to discover that the movie works in spite of the total absence of character development for Eastwood’s cipher-like figure.

*** out of ****