Escape from Alcatraz Movie Review

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

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Written by: J. Campbell Bruce (book), Richard Tuggle (screenplay)
Directed by: Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Fred Ward
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. No one can ever escape, until three men make an attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.

Verdict
This captures a mood, slowly building the world inside the prison. Prison movies usually follow the same formula, but this does a good job of capturing the feelings of being in prison. You know exactly why the men are compelled to leave. The ending is ambiguous, which makes this one all the better.
Watch it.

Review
A solid prison escape movie that reminded me of Le Trou, though not quite as good.

I love the way this opens. We don't get any information, we're dropped into Alcatraz with a man getting incarcerated. There's very little dialog as this slowly unfolds, but that creates a sense of tension, isolation, and despair. This does a great job of building the mood and introducing the small elements of prison life. That world is controlled by the warden, and life isn't fair. It's no surprise, men want to escape, figuratively or literally.

Clint Eastwood plays Frank, a serial prison escapist that plans to do what's never been done, leave Alcatraz. With these type of movies the plan is always on the brink of being discovered which keeps tensions high. The escape is always a hole in the wall. From there it gets tricky, and gathering supplies is a risk.

I love the way this ends, leaving it open ended. Who knows if they really made it. An argument could be made for both sides. That's left to guesses and speculations, though they were never found.