Sometimes you are able to tell that a particular film is going to be good within the first five minutes. That is also the case for some bad films. Sadly, Breakout [previously titled Ticket Out] is of the latter persuasion.
Initially the film is narrated by a little boy, who fills us in on the fact that his mommy (Alexandra Breckenridge) and daddy (Billy Burke) are separated and his mum is sad because his daddy hurt him. Mommy is slipped a note in court [a hearing to decide custody] which says something random about getting help to run away and fighting injustice but she thinks nowt of it until she has to drop something off to her kids at their dad’s and the boy is sitting stiffly in front of the TV, redfaced and snuffling, raging that the dad has once again hurt him and mommy told him that it’d never happen again. So mommy calls the number on the note and Ray Liotta turns up as part of the underground cell that will help them to go on the run. Daddy hires a PI to find them and so it’s a race to get to safety/reclaim children.
It sounds quite straightforward but it’s all a bit more confusing and dreary than that, with an extra side of artery-hardening cheese. Liotta’s character is drippy in the extreme and far from endearing. Having recently rewatched his heartwarming performance in Corinna Corinna (1994), seemed to heighten my disappointment with Liotta and his character in Breakout even further. Clearly the film was meant to target the B-movie market but it goes way too far; there was never even a hope of Breakout being a ‘good bad’ film. The daughter is also one of the most annoying child characters you’ll have seen in a long while.
The characters are extremely stereotypical and the script in general is very tired. So small amounts of shame should be heaped on director Doug Lodato and co-writer Suzanne Collins (writer of The Hunger Games), who is heavily billed in an attempt to promote the film above its station. Avoid at all costs, even if you see it beginning on Channel 5 on a boring and rainy Sunday evening.
No extras on the DVD.
Maryann has awarded Breakout on DVD one Torch of Truth
