ggoldberg1 I am usually a big fan of prison movies, but not this one. It was too unrelentingly dark and depressing for my tastes. Even prison has uplifting moments. Between the bad sound, the unfamiliar slang and the strong accents, I often found it very difficult to make out exactly what was going on. The lead - Brian Cox - did a good job, but the main bad guy - Damian Lewis - was too clean-cut and just did not fit the part (although I love him in Homeland). The whole drug factory in prison making a non-existent drug just seemed silly to me. There is no way that one would have the privacy to go through all the steps that it took to make it. The premise of an experienced middle-aged convict breaking out of prison because his daughter is a junkie seemed stupid too. What would he be able to do about it when on the run from the police? A lot of people seem to like this film, but I am not one of them.

mdixon I hate it what that happens. I enjoyed this movie very much, moreso than most but only found it by sheer accident. makes me wonder how many other little gems I've missed.it's hard to say a lot about the story w/o giving something away but I liked that this was just a simple/solid movie, well-edited and well-done. no fancy script, no navel-gazing, no big action per se, just an undercurrent of intensity that held my attention. I'm a tough grader and gave it an 8 but I think not so much on its merits but in comparison to so much of the garbage out there.maybe it's just my kind of interest but unlike a lot of movies, this one not only has a pay-off but the editing makes it easy to stay interested until then. it's not nearly as complex as memento for example (a 9 or 10 in my book) but is done better than most in that what they selected leaves you wondering what's going to happen next in b when they cut back to a and vice-versa.this one is what makes me like watching movies, just wanting to be entertained for an hour or two, not bored to tears or wonder "wtf??" when it's over.

usajet I enjoyed the movie even though it was a bit slow. I also found British prison English hard to understand at times requiring me to rewind and listen over and over again to attempt to get the dialog.I really liked the historic value of the escapees moving through the tunnels and aqueducts of the London system. During their escape from prison they managed to find their way to an old abandoned "Tube" station used during the German bombings of London during World War II. There are remnants found during that period including an old withered gas mask and other relics of that time long ago forgotten.At the beginning of the war officials had misgivings about the use of tube stations and underground tunnels as public shelters due to disease and the danger on the tracks. But, as history tells us they used the "Tube" in the long run. The English found the "Tube" to be a suitable sanctuary and preferred them over other air raid shelters at that time. Tracks were decommissioned, cots and porta-potties were brought in, and the rivers were reinforced with flood gates and embankments. The "Tube" did have its casualties, the worst being stampede in which 173 were crushed to death by others. In addition, there were many direct hits of the "Tube" during the war which were kept secret until well after the war.

Framescourer A marvellous film, as tightly handled as Damian Lewis' t-shirt. The film is told in two narratives prior to and during a break out of a prison, woven together with the snug inevitability of a zip. Consequently there are not one but two big twists, neither of which did I see coming. Bravo.This in itself is plenty to recommend the film, but here's some further detail. The British cast is entirely brilliant. Brian Cox, naturally, but I also believed Joe Fiennes' scrawny thuggishness and, though an outsider in so many ways, Seu Jorge fits his role (and into the ensemble) seamlessly. The film's well designed and shot so that the prison seems genuinely rough. Set pieces do not grandstand, they simply exist within the prison.My one disappointment was in the sound design which successfully submerges a great deal of the dialogue. I understand that we're in an extended period in which 'acoustically naturalised' dialogue is fashionable but this was really bad. Nonetheless there was too much about this film - everything else, in fact - that made it utterly gripping despite such shortcomings. 8/10